104 TREES 



The Great Laurel Magnolia 



M. foetida, Sarg. 



The great laurel magnolia is oftenest seen in cultivation 

 as a small tree of pyramidal or conical habit, with stiff, 

 ascending branches, bearing a lustrous mass of leathery 

 oval leaves, five to eight inches long, lined with dull green, 

 or with rusty down, persistent until the second spring. 

 When small these magnolia trees are as conventional as the 

 rubber plants in hotel lobbies, whose foliage resembles 

 theirs. But in the forests of Louisiana, where this tree 

 reaches its greatest perfection, it earns the characterization 

 that Sargent gave it, "the most splendid ornamental tree 

 in the American forests." With a trunk four feet thick, 

 and its head lifted from fifty to eighty feet above the 

 ground and with each leaf cluster holding up a great white 

 flower, waxy as a camellia, seven to eight inches across, the 

 tree is indeed superb. William Bartram likened these 

 flowers to great white roses, distinctly visible from a dis- 

 tance of a mile. 



The purple heart of the flower, made by a spot of color 

 at the base of each petal, and the overpowering odor, rather 

 sickening as the flowers fade, lure insects to the nectar 

 store at the bottom of the flower-cup. This odor, dis- 

 agreeable to many people, is the one objection to this 

 flower when brought indoors. A drawback that florists 

 discover is that the sHghtest bruise of the waxy petals 

 produces a brownish discoloratiouj, which prevents the 

 shipment of these flowers. The splendid foliage, however, 

 travels perfectly, and a new and growing industry is the 

 gathering of magnolia branches il!i Southern woods for 



