FRANKLINIA. 



453 



inch in breadth, white, and sweet scented, mak- 

 ing their appearance about the middle of July, 

 and blooming in succession for two or three 

 montlis. The fruit is an oval capsule, with five 

 segments, containing small black winged seeds. 

 The wood is light, of a fine silky texture and 

 rosy hue, brittle, and rapid in its decay when 

 exposed to moisture. The bark is used in tan- 

 ning. 



Franklinia (gordonia pubesccns). This tree, 

 which rarely exceeds thirty feet in height, is 

 confined almost entirely to the banks of the Alta- 

 maha in the state of Georgia. The leaves are 

 alternate, oblong, narrow at the base, and toothed ; 

 they are deciduous. The flower is five petaled, 

 white, and, like those of the loblolly, they con- 

 tinue to blow in succession for two months. The 

 shrub has long been cultivated in France and 

 England, and is a beautiful ornamental plant, 

 especially when the flowers are rendered double 

 by culture. 



TiiE Tulip Tree (liriodendron tulipifera). 

 This tree which surpasses most others of North 



■America in height, and in the Ijcauty of its 

 foliage and of its flowers, is also one of the most 

 Interesting from the numerous and useful appli- 



Ications of its wood. Throughout the States it 

 is generally called poplar, or white wood, canon 

 wood, and more rarely the tulip tree. 



This tree is often seen eighty and one hundred 

 feet in height, with a diameter from eighteen 

 inches to three feet. In the development of its 

 leaves it differs from most other trees. Leaf- 

 buds in general are composed of scales closely 

 applied one upon another, which in the spring 

 are distended by the growth of the minute bundle 

 of leaves which they enclose, till they finally 

 faU. On some trees these buds are without 

 scales. On the tulip tree the terminal bud of 



each shoot swells considerably before it gives 

 birth to the leaf; it forms an oval sack, which 

 contains the young leaf, and which produces it 

 to the light only when it appears to have acquired 

 sufficient force to endure the influence of the 

 atmosphere. Within the sack is found another, 

 which, after the first leaf is put forth, swells, 

 bursts, and gives birth to a second. On young 

 and vigorous trees, five or six leaves issue suc- 

 cessively in this manner from one sack. Till 

 the leaf has acquired half its growth, it retains 

 the two lobes which composed its sack, and which 

 are now called stipuhe. In the spring, when the 

 weather is warm and humid, the growth of the 

 leaves is very rapid. They are six to eight inches 

 broad, borne on long petioles, alternate, some- 

 what fleshy, smooth, and of a pleasing green 

 colour. They are divided into three lobes, of 

 which the middle one is horizontally notched at 

 its summit; the two lower ones are rounded at 

 the base. This conformation is peculiar to the 

 tulip tree, and renders it easily distinguishable 

 in the summer. The flowers, which are large, 

 brilliant, and, in detached trees, very numerous, 

 are variegated with different colours, among 

 which yellow predominates. They have an 

 agreeable odour, and surrounded by luxuriant 

 foliage they produce a very striking effect. In 

 spring they are collected by females, and sold in 

 the market of New York. The fruit is com- 

 posed of a number of thin naiTOw scales, attached 

 to a common axis, and forming a cone two or 

 three inches in length. Each cone consists of 

 sixty or seventy seeds, of which never more than 

 a third, and in some seasons not more than seven 

 or eight of the whole number are productive. It 

 is also remarked, tliat for the first ten years after 

 the tree has begun to yield fruit, the seeds are 

 unproductive ; and that in large trees the seeds 

 from the highest branches are the best. The 

 bark in young trees is smooth and even; in older 

 trees it cracks, and separates into deep furrows. 

 The heart or perfect wood is yellow, approach- 

 ing to a lemon colour, and its alburnum is white. 

 The wood is heavier than that of the poplars, 

 and its grain equally fine and more compact. It 

 is employed for various useful purposes in house 

 building, coach pannels, trunks, &c. The bark, 

 especially of the roots, has an aromatic smell and 

 bitter taste ; it has been used in medicine as a 

 tonic and febrifuge. 



The tulip tree has been introduced into Europe 

 within the last century, where it tlirives well, 

 and bears abundance of flowers. 



The Laurel (laurus ncibilis). Natural family 

 laurince; enncandria, monoaynia, of Linna;us, 

 This common and beautiful evergreen is cele- 

 brated as the laurus of the Romans and the 

 daphne of tlie Greeks, which was consecrated to 

 priests and heroes, and used in their sacrifices. 

 In the south of Italy it grows to a sufficieut 



