MAGNOLIA. 



n 



species of actsea. From the ai3parent similarity of the plants to cimicifuga, 

 they might safely be administered in like manner. 



Medical Properties and Uses. — As ah-eady remarked, the chemical con- 

 stituents of actpea are supposed to be similar to those of cimicifuga, and 

 therefore the former might be substituted for the latter in case of necessity, 

 though such necessity is scarcely to be supposed. As domestic remedies 

 both species have been employed, though rarely. In scientific medicine 

 they have seldom been mentioned. 



MACNOLIACE>E. 



Character of the Order. — Trees or shrubs with alternate, coriaceous leaves, 

 and convolute stipules which cover the buds and are deciduous. Sepals 

 usually 3 to G, deciduous ; j)etals 3 or more, imbricated ; stamens numerous, 

 distinct ; anthers adnate ; carpels 1-celled, numerous, on an elevated re- 

 cejDtacle, in fruit forming a sort of fleshy or diy cone. 



The order comprises about a dozen genera and more than seventy 

 species, very few of which, however, are indigenous to North America. 

 The flowers of many species are fragrant and ornamental. As a whole the 

 magnoliacese are characterized by aromatic tonic properties. 



MAGNOLIA. 



3 ; petals 6 to 12, 

 and 



Stamens numerous, 



Character of the Genus. — Sepals 

 imbricated, with short filaments, 

 long anthers, the latter opening inward. 

 Pistils numerous, crowded upon the 

 elongated torus, cohering, and in fruit 

 forming a fleshy and somewhat woody 

 conical mass. Carpels dehiscent upon 

 the back, 1- or 2-seeded, the seeds at 

 maturity being suspended from the open 

 capsules by an extensile thread of spiral 

 vessels. Trees or shrubs. Leaves al- 

 ternate, or clustered at the summit of 

 the branches. Flowers large, solitary, 

 terminal. Stipules large, adnate to the 

 petiole, deciduous. 



Magnolia glauca Linne. — Small 

 or Laurel Magnolia. 



Description.— C(i\yx: sepals 3, mem- 

 branaceous, spatulate, concave, resem- 

 bUng petals but much less delicate. Co- 

 rolla : petals 9 to 12, ovate, narrowed at 

 the base, concave, erect, arranged in circles of three. Seeds obovate, scarlet. 



A shrub 5 to 20 feet high, with divaricating branches and smooth, gray- 



FiG. 100.— Magnolia glauca. 



