38 



TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 



Magnblia /ietida . 



shining foliage, throws out its blos- 

 soms, it appears ahiiost as though a 

 great flock of something white and 

 unearthly had alighted among its 

 branches. And as they lean upon 

 the warm, sunny air they exhale a per- 

 fume that is no less mystifying. At 

 least, some lasting impression must 

 cling to those that see it in bloom 

 for the first time. To others, how- 

 ever, that have from childhood walked 

 in the southern streets and gardens 

 shaded by these trees, it is simply said : 

 " the magnolias are in bloom." It quite 

 suffices. Undoubtedly the tree is the 

 most beautiful and ornamental one of America and it is to be 

 regretted that while evergreen in the south it is only precari- 

 ously hardy as far northward as Philadelphia. It then blooms 

 as late in the season as early August. As it leaves the coast 

 and travels inland, it seeks for its home the seclusion of the 

 forests instead of the banks of rivers and swamps. On the 

 bluffs of the Mississippi it is also found in a state of splendid 

 development. 



Rose-beetles seek the flowers just as they are beginning to 

 open and are frequently held prisoners beneath the three inner 

 petals which vault over the stigmas. Here they find, in the 

 early days of spring, a warm and fragrant shelter, and the 

 honey that lies on the stigmas provides for them a continuous 

 feast. AVhen the sepals and petals fall they fly away, laden 

 with pollen in search of another abode ; and so they regularly 

 accomplish the fertilization of the tree. Self-fertilization is 

 prevented from the fact that the stigmas mature before the 

 anthers. 



The wood of the great-flowered magnolia is more valuable 

 than that of any other one of the genus. It is of a strong and 



