376 TREES. 



soils, and where ample room is afforded, it produces a ncble tree of 

 immense size. Several have been measured on the banks of the 

 Ohio from forty to fifty feet in circumference. 



A native tree, but little known in our ornamental plantations, is 

 the Kentucky coffee (Gymnocladus canadensis). It is a native of 

 Kentucky and Tennessee, grows to the height of forty feet, and its 

 doubly compound foliage, and very singular appearance when de- 

 foliated in the winter months, are well calculated to render it an 

 interesting feature in the landscape. Cupressus distichum (Taxo- 

 dium Rich?), the deciduous cypress, flourishing in vast quantities in 

 the southern parts of the Union, is, though perfectly hardy, and of 

 easy cultivation, but little known in the northern States.* Its beau- 

 tiful light green foliage contrasts elegantly with the denser hue of 

 other deciduous trees, and we are hardly aware of an upright grow- 

 ing tree, better calculated to give variety of color to groups and 

 masses, than this. Catdlpa syringa3folia is a most striking orna- 

 ment to a lawn, when in the summer months it is loaded with its 

 large clusters of parti-colored flowers. 



But the most splendid, most fragrant, and most celebrated orna- 

 mental production of the woods and forests of our country, is yet to 

 be mentioned. It is the unrivalled Magnolia grandiflora : the most 

 magnificent of the genus, a beautiful tree of seventy feet in its na- 

 tive soil, only attains the size of a large shrub in the middle States, 

 and will scarcely withstand the winters of the northern. But M. 

 acuminata, though not so beautiful, is a fine large tree, sometimes 

 attaining the height of ninety feet. It is abundant in western New- 

 York and Ohio. M. macrophylla is not only remarkable for the 

 beauty of its flowers, but also for the extraordinary size of its leaves; 

 they having been measured so long as three feet. M. tripetela, the 

 umbrella tree, is also a fine species growing in districts from Georgia 

 to New- York ; its large, cream-colored flowers measuring seven or 

 eight inches in diameter. Still more rare, though highly ornamen- 

 tal, are M. cordata and M. auriculata ; small trees which ought to 

 be indispensable to every collection. The species of smallest stature 



* "We have seen a celebrated specimen in Col. Carr's garden, Philadel 

 phia, 180 feet high, 26 feet in circumference, and 91 years old. 



