338 TREES IN WINTER 



UMBRELLA TREE 

 Elkwood. 



Magnolia tripetala L. 

 M. Umhrella Lam. 



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

 trunk diameter of li/4 feet, 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. 



TAVIGS — 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. 



LiEAF-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, w^ith 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 flatfish 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. 



"WOOD — Light, soft, close-grained, not strong, light brown, with 

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



