III. MAGNOL/y/V^^ : MAGNO^LJ^. 



35 



ife 9. M. purpu'rea Sims. The pur[)\e-J?oive)ed Magnolia. 



tdontification. Sims, in Bot. Mag. 



Synonymes. M. obovata Tkun., and Do7i's Mill. \. p. 84. ; M. discolor Vent. ; M. denudata Lam. ; 



the obovate-leaved Magnolia ; Magnolier discolore Son. Jard., and Magnolie bicolore Dun., Ft. ; 



rotlie Bieberbaum, Ger. 

 Engravings. Sal. Par., t. 87. ; Bot. Mag., t. 390 ; and our^^. 45. 



S2Jec. Char.y Sfc. Deciduous. Leaves obovate, acute, reticulately veined ; almost 

 smooth. Flowers erect, of 3 sepals and 6 obovate petals; styles very short. 

 {Don's j\Idl.) A deciduous shrub, with large dark green foliage. Japan. 

 Height 3 ft. to 5 ft. Introduced in 1790. Flowers purple outside, white 

 within ; March to May. Strobile brownish ; ripe in September. Decaying 

 leaves black. Naked young wood greenish brown. 



Vaiieties. 



^ M. p. 2 gracilis. M. Kobiis Dec. and G. Don ; M. tomentosa Thun. in 

 Lin. Trans. Kaernpf. Icon., t. 42. ; Par. Lon., t. 87. The two main 

 points of difference between it and M. purpurea are. the paler green, 

 and somewhat narrower shape, of the leaves ; and the longer and 

 more slender form of the flower, the points of the petals of which 

 are slightly turned back ; while the flower of M. purpurea is more 

 . cup-shaped, and the petals at the points are rather turned inwards. 

 The petals of M. gracilis are on the exterior entirely of a dark purple, 

 whereas tiiose of M. purpurea melt off" into white at their upper 

 extremities. A number of plants of this variety, v.hich stood in the 

 Hammersmith Nursery as border shrubs, and flowered freely every 

 year, were killed down to the ground in the winter of 1837-8. 

 Other Varieties. In DeCandolle's Prodromus, and in Don's Miller, three 

 varieties are described : M. p. denuddta Lam., distinguished by the flower- 

 ing branches being without leaves ; M. p. discolor Vent., which is said to be 

 rather more tender than the species; and jM. p. Mliflora Lam., the petals of 

 which are white on both sides. These varieties were originally described 

 by Ksmpfer ; but, as far as we know, none of them are in British gardens. 

 Several plants of this species having been raised from seed ripened in this 

 country, the plants may exhibit slight shades of difference, as has been the 

 case with certain seedlings raised in the Brentford Nursery ; but, as far as 

 we have observed, none of these are worth keeping distinct. The only 

 variety which we consider truly distinct is M p. gracilis, considered as a 

 species by Salisbury and other botanists, but 

 which, we are convinced, is nothing more than 

 a race, or a variety. At Desio, a variety has 

 been raised which grows only l^ft. high, and 

 which Signor Cassoretti, the garden director 

 there, calls AT. obovata jnhnila. 



A deciduous shrub, attaining, in the gardens 

 about London, the height of from 4 ft. to 8 ft. in 

 as many years, and seldom growing much higher 

 as a bush. The stems are numerous, but not 

 much branched ; the leaves are large, of a very 

 dark green ; and the plant produces a profusion 

 of flowers, which do not expand fully till & day 

 or two before they drop oft"; and which, unless 

 the weather is warm, do not expand at all, but 

 wither on the plant, and disfigure it. The 

 flowers are large, more or less purple (according 

 to the season, but never wholly dark purple) 

 without, and always white within. The bark, 

 when bruised, has an aromatic odour. A very 

 ornamental species, which no garden ought to be without. This species is 

 generally considered as requiring a mixturli of heath soil, or sandv l)eat, with 

 loam , l)nt in many gardens about London it succeeds perfectly both in sand 



n 2 



)'5. Magnolia purpurea. 



