FOREST TREES. 169 



slender tree, quite hardy, often blooming twice in a season in 

 the vicinity of New York. Wood soft, but resembling that 

 of the first. 



M. irhuica, L. Sweet Bay, Swamp Magnolia. Leaves quite 

 thick, oblong-oval, smooth and glossy above, white or rusty 

 pubescent beneath, evergreen in the South, and nearly so in 

 protected situations at the North. Flowers composed of nine 

 concave petals about two inches broad, white, and very fra- 

 grant. Cone of fruit oval, about an inch and a half long, con- 

 taining numerous black seeds, enclosed in a light scarlet pulp 

 or aril, a character common to most of the species, but in some 

 the aril is of a darker color. The Sweet Bay or Swamp Mag- 

 nolia is one of our most beautiful ornamental shrubs, or small 

 trees, and while it thrives best in low, most soils, it will grow 

 quite well in any moderately good garden soil. A small tree, 

 but often twenty to thirty feet high in swampy grounds. A 

 variety of this, known as the M. longifolia, has larger leaves 

 than the species, otherwise not different. Native of Massachu- 

 setts, and southward to Florida. 



M. grandiflora, L. Large-flowered Magnolia, Southern Ever- 

 green Magnolia. Leaves evergreen, thick and leathery, oblong, 

 smooth above, rusty pubescent beneath, six to twelve inches 

 long. Flowers white, fragrant, and from six to ten inches 

 broad. Fruit oval, three to four inches long. Wood soft, and 

 very white, of little value except for inside work, and where 

 it will not be subjected to any wear. A large tree from fifty 

 to nearly a hundred feet high, with stem two to three feet 

 in diameter. This is, without doubt, the most noble, broad- 

 leaved, evergreen tree found in North America. Unfortu- 

 nately it is not hardy in our Northern States, and must be 

 treated as a green-house shrub, or at least given some protec- 

 tion in winter. Native of North Carolina, and south to 

 Florida, thence west to Texas, and in the Mississippi Valley 

 as far north as Natchez. 



II. inatTophylla, Michx. Great- leaved Magnolia. Leaves very 

 large, sometimes three feet long, usually clustered on the ends 

 of the stout, cane-like, whitish, pubescent branches. The 

 leaves are broadest above the middle, or obovate-spatulate, 

 heart-shaped, or slightly eared at the base, green above, but 

 whitish beneath. Flowers white, with a purple spot near the 

 base, fragrant, and often twelve inches broad. Fruit nearly 

 cylindrical, and about four inches long, the color at maturity is 

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