SWAMP MAGNOLIA 



nor will it remain in continuous bloom throughout the sum- 

 mer unless in a moist situation. It must have water in order 

 to do its best. 



The flowers appear in May, solitary, at the ends of the 

 branches, cream-white, large as a rose and fragrant as a lily. 

 Under favorable conditions they will continue to appear 

 through the greater part of the summer, and the combination 

 of these creamy blossoms surrounded by the dark shining 

 leaves is beautiful indeed. 



By midsummer the fruit has formed, a green oval mass, 

 made up of many seed-vessels which have grown together. 

 When ripe this becomes red and is about two inches long. The 

 enclosed seeds turn a brilliant scarlet, and when released from 

 their prison walls hang down for awhile on their slender white 

 threads, and finally fall to the ground or are eaten by birds. 

 In taste they are aromatic, pungent, and slightly bitter. 



This charming little tree has a variety of common names, 

 referring to its size or its habitat or its individual characteris- 

 tics. Among these names is Beaver-wood, given because the 

 fleshy roots were eagerly eaten by the beavers, who consid- 

 ered them such a dainty that they could be caught in traps 

 baited with them. Michaux relates that the wood was used 

 by the beavers in constructing their dams and houses in pref- 

 erence to any other. 



The tree is easily propagated by layers which, however, 

 root slowly ; but the preferred method is to graft it upon a 

 root of the Cucumber-tree, M. acuminata, where it makes a 

 stronger growth than upon its own roots. To obtain plants 

 from the seeds they should be preserved in moist earth and 

 sown very early in the spring in a moist situation. 



Magnolia tripetala, the Umbrella-tree, frequently planted on 

 northern lawns, is a southern species ranging from Pennsyl- 

 vania to the Gulf. It may be easily recognized by its great 

 leaves, twelve to eighteen inches long, and four to eight inches 

 broad. These radiate from the ends of the branches in such 

 a way as to suggest an open umbrella, whence its common 

 name. Often it sprawls, a straggling bush. The huge, ter- 



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