472 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



UMBRELLA TREE 

 Elkwood. 



Magnolia tripetala L. 

 M. Umbrella Lam. 



HABIT A small tree with a maximum height of about 40 ft. and a 

 trunk diameter of 1^ ft., in New England generally much smaller; 

 trunk erect or inclined with wide-spreading branches which generally 

 bend up at their tips forming a wide spreading irregular open head; 

 at times with several stems springing from near the base of the trunk, 

 forming a bushy growth around the main stem. 



BARK Light gray, smooth, marked with small excrescences, fre- 

 quently wrinkled and lumpy at the scars of branches. 



TWIGS Stout, reddish to greenish-brown, shining, swollen at the 

 base of each year's growth, aromatic. LENTICELS conspicuous, scat- 

 tered pale dots. PITH white, with minute pink dots. 



L.EAF-SCARS Alternate, more than 2-ranked, large, conspicuous, 

 oval, slightly raised, mainly clustered at swellings along the twig. 

 STIPULE-SCARS distinct, arising from the side of leaf-scar and en- 

 circling twig. BUNDLE-SCARS numerous, irregularly scattered, often 

 slightly raised. 



BUDS Lateral buds at best small, conical, divergent, frequently 

 undeveloped or showing as mere bulges of the bark; terminal buds 

 large up to 5 cm. long, conical, with curved pointed apex, purple, 

 with a bloom, with minute pale dots, smooth with patch of rusty hairs 

 at base of leaf-ridge. BUD-SCALES valvate and adhering in pairs 

 corresponding to stipules, each pair enclosing in succession an erect 

 folded downy leaf, the stalk of which is united with the next inner pair 

 of scales; the leaf connected with the outer pair of scales falls off 

 before maturing, leaving a rudimentary scar on the bud with a decur- 

 rent ridge corresponding to its leaf-stalk. 



FRUIT Ovate to oblong cone, 6-10 cm. long, made up of numerous 

 follicles which split open in the fall and let out the red flattish seeds 

 which are about 1 cm. in diameter. 



COMPARISONS For comparisons with the Tulip Tree see this species. 

 The Umbrella Tree differs from the Cucumber Tree, the Large-leaved 

 Magnolia and the Chinese Magnolia by its smooth buds and from the 

 Sweet Bay by the size and color of its twigs and buds. 



DISTRIBUTION Not native to New England but extensively culti- 

 vated as an ornamental tree. It grows wild in the Appalachian 

 mountain region from the valley of the Susquehanna river, Pennsyl- 

 vania to southern Alabama. 



\VOOD Light, soft, close-grained, not strong, light brown, with 

 creamy white sapwood of 35-40 layers of annual growth. 



