CHINESE MAGNOLIAS 



The Chinese magnolias are deciduous and have entirely different habits 

 than the evergreen magnolias. They are shrublike in character, and are 

 prized for the profusion and beauty of their early flowers. The buds form in 

 the fall and open in the early spring before the leaves appear. There are 

 many species and varieties, varying chiefly in color and size of the flower. 



Wherever magnolia is planted care should be taken to supply it with an 

 abundance of water; otherwise, the foliage will lose its richness of color and 

 the growth will be perceptibly retarded. 



MAPLES 



Acer, the scientific name of the maple family, means hard or sharp, and 

 was given to the maple by the ancients because of its hard wood which they 

 prized for making their weapons. 



One of the maples is called Sycamore in England. This name arose from 

 the practice of using the tree in mystery plays in the Middle Ages to represent 

 the true sycamore which Zacchaeus climbed to see Christ at the time of his 

 triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 



Virgil celebrates the maple as the throne on which Evander seated Aeneas : 



"On sods of turf he sat the soldiers round; 

 A maple throne, raised high above the ground 

 Received the Trojan chief; and, o'er the bed, 

 A lion's shaggy hide for ornament they spread." 



The maples embrace sixty to seventy species of large, medium and small 

 sized trees. They have a wide range and are adaptive to a variety of soils. 

 The flowers are small but are attractive in early flowering species since they 

 appear in great profusion in the form of drooping clusters. The foliage has a 

 pleasing diversity of shape and color, generally turning into brilliant tints in 

 the autumn. Tennyson describes the maple as burning itself away until all 

 the woodside glows in the fitful sunshine like dead gold. 



In some species the young fruits which have two seeds joined, Siamese- 

 twin fashion, assume a deep red color which led Emerson to say : 



"The scarlet maple keys betray 

 What potent blood hath modest May." 



(85) 



