THE MAGNOLLiS 107 



usually made is to plant it in the middle of a lawn where 

 the wind lashes the broad leaves into ribbons before they 

 have reached their full size. Every twig or leaf that 

 touches a petal mars it witli a brown bruise. The only 

 way to enjoy one of these remarkable trees is to plant it in 

 the most sheltered situation, where the sunshine will reach 

 it and the breezes will not. Then the silver-hned foliage 

 and the superb white blossoms can come to perfection and 

 the sight is worth going miles to see. 



The Cucumber Tree 



M. acuminata, Linn. 



The cucumber tree is the hardiest of our native magnolias, 

 tropical-looking by reason of its heart-shaped leaves, six to 

 ten inches long. Its chosen habitat is rocky uplands, 

 where the fleshy roots can find moist soil. It ranges from 

 western New York to Illinois, Kentucky, and Arkansas, 

 and follows the mountain foothills through Pennsylvania 

 and Tennessee into Alabama and Mississippi. 



The flowers are Hke tulips, and though large can scarcely 

 be seen amxong the new leaves, because they are all yellow- 

 ish green in color. The petals are leaf-like and the flowers 

 have no fragrance to make up for their lack of beauty. 

 Imperfect pollination results in distorted, fleshy cones 

 that resemble cucumbers that have twisted and shrunken 

 in spots as they grew. These fruits turn from pink to red 

 as they mature, redeeming their ugly shape by their vivid 

 color as the leaves turn yellow. In September, the scarlet 

 seeds hang out and the wind whips them until they dangle 

 several inches below the fruit. One by one they drop and 

 new cucumber trees come up from this planting. 



