VIII. 



THE CHINESE MAGNOLIAS. 



January, 1850. 



NATURE has bestowed that superb genus of trees, the magnolia, 

 on the eastern sides of the two great continents North Amer- 

 ica and Asia. The United States gives us eight of all the known 

 species, and China and Japan four or five. Neither Europe, Africa, 

 nor South America afford a single indigenous species of magnolia. 



All the Chinese magnolias, excepting one (M. fuscata), are 

 hardy in this latitude, and are certainly among the most striking 

 and ornamental objects in our pleasure-grounds and shrubberies in 

 the spring. Indeed, during the month of April, and the early part 

 of May, two of them, the white or conspicua, and Soulange's purple 

 or soulangiana, eclipse every other floral object, whether tree or 

 shrub, that the garden contains. Their numerous branches, thickly 

 studded with large flowers, most classically shaped, with thick kid- 

 like petals, and rich spicy odor, wear an aspect of great novelty and 

 beauty among the smaller blossoms of the more common trees and 

 shrubs that blossom at that early time, and really fill the beholdei 

 with delight. 



The Chinese white magnolia (M. conspicua) is, in the effect of 

 its blossoms, the most charming of all magnolias. The flowers, in 

 color a pure creamy white, are produced in such abundance, that 

 the tree, when pretty large, may be seen a great distance. The 

 Chinese name, GULAN, literally lily-tree, is an apt and expressive 

 one, as the blossoms are not much unlike those of the white lily in 

 size and shape, when fully expanded. Among the Chinese poets, 

 they are considered the emblem of candor and beauty. 



