CHAPTER LII: THE GORDONIAS 



Family Theace/€ 



Genus GORDONIA, Ell. 



Two very interesting and beautiful species of tiiis genus grow 

 in the South Atlantic States. They are flowering trees that 

 rank in beauty with the magnolias which they resemble. They 

 belong, in fact, to the camellia family, whose flowers are famous 

 in horticulture. The tea plant, CamilUa Thca, of commerce, 

 itself a beautiful flowering shrub, is a. member of the family, and 

 a relative of our gordonias. 



The Loblolly Bay {Gordonia Lasianihus, Ell.) grows to 

 be a tree of 70 feet in height, with slender, straight trunk and 

 narrow, compact head, in swampy land from tidewater Virginia 

 along the coast to the delta of the Mississippi. It is most frequent 

 in eastern Florida and Georgia. Its leaves are evergreen, leathery 

 and shining, lanceolate in form and serrate on the margins. Its 

 flowers are perfect, with fleshy white petals spreading out like 

 great wild roses often two to three inches across. They begin to 

 bloom in July and continue several weeks. A dry, woody, ovoid 

 capsule succeeds the flower. In it are 2 to 8 square, winged 

 seeds. 



The tree thrives in cultivation, though at best it is short 

 lived. A handsome specimen blossoms freely in the Arnold 

 Arboretum at Boston. 



The Franklinia (G. Altamaha, Sarg.) is a tree rarely seen 

 over 15 to 20 feet high now. Its flowers, larger than those of the 

 loblolly, bay, open in September. The leaves resemble those of 

 the other species in form, but are deciduous, and notable for 

 their splendid scarlet in autumn. The fruit is globular and the 

 seeds not winged. 



In 1790 William Bartram found this tree growing in groves 

 along the Altamaha River. Specimens were sent to John Bart- 

 ram's garden in Philadelphia, and from there were introduced 



399 



