DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 193 



ests in any temperate climate ; and when we consider the 

 size, and fragrance of their blossoms, or the beauty of their 

 large and noble foliage, we may be allowed to doubt whether 

 there is a more magnificent and showy genus of deciduous 

 trees in the world. With the exception of a few shrubs or 

 smaller trees natives of China, and the mountains of Cen- 

 tral Asia, it belongs exclusively to this continent, as no in- 

 dividuals of this order are indigenous to Europe or Africa. 

 The American species attracted the attention of the first 

 botanists who came over to examine the riches of our na- 

 tive flora, and were transplanted to the gardens of England 

 and France, more than a hundred years ago, where they are 

 still valued as the finest hardy trees of that hemisphere. 



The Large Evergreen Magnolia, [M. grandiflora,) or Big 

 Laurel, as it is sometimes called, is peculiarly indigenous to 

 that portion of our country south of North Carolina, where 

 its stately trunk, often seventy feet in height, and superb py- 

 ramid of deep green foliage, render it one of the loveliest and 

 most majestic of trees. The leaves, which are evergreen, 

 and somewhat resemble those of the laurel in form, are 

 generally six or eight inches in length, thick in texture, and 

 brilliantly polished on the upper surface. The highly 

 fragrant flowers are composed of about six petals, open- 

 ing in a wide cup-like form, of the most snowy whiteness 

 of colour. Scattered among the rich foliage, their effect is 

 exquisitely beautiful. The seeds are borne in an oval cone- 

 like carpel or seed-vessel, composed of a number of cells 

 which split longitudinally, when the stony seed, covered with 

 a bright red pulp, drops out. There are several varieties 

 which have been raised from the seed of this species abroad ; 

 the most beautiful is the Exmouth Magnolia, with fine fol- 



25 



