TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 



39 





fibrous nature. Although it is mostly used for fuel it is quite 

 worthy of a place in cabinet work. As is true of all the 

 magnolias, the juice of the tree is intensely bitter and aromatic. 

 It has been used as a tonic. 



It is interesting to reflect that the beautiful Council-tree at 

 Charleston, South Carolina, was a magnolia. According U) 

 tradition it was under its shade that on the twenty-first of 

 April, 1780, General Lincoln held a council with his oflicers 

 and many citizens of Charleston as to the advisability of 

 retreatitig before the P)ritish. 'i"he decision was in the nega- 

 tive and three weeks later the city was surrendered. Until 

 1849 tlie magnolia was held in especi.d veneration by the 

 nihabitants of Charleston. At that time its branches f'^oread 

 themselves over a space of more than two hundred square 

 feet. It had then unfortunately passed into the possession of 

 (me who, being devoid of all sentiment, ruthlessly chopped it 

 down for fire-wood. 





SMALL MAGNOLIA. SWEET BAY. LAUREL HAQ- 

 NOLIA. SWAriP SASSAFRAS. {Plate Vr/I.) 



Magnolia Virginiana. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE 



Magnolia. Slender. zo--jq J~ect. Eastern Afass. southward to 



Florida, westward to Texas. 



TIME OF BLOOM 

 Afay-.l iiffiist. 



Bark: light brown or greyish, covered with thin appressed scales. Branch- 

 lets: bright green the first year, becoming reddish brown with age. Leaves: 

 simple; alternate; entire; obovate ; pointed, with distinct midrib; thick; 

 (lark green above and shiny, downy and whitish underneath. Flowers : white; 

 fragrant ; two to tiiree inches in diameter; solitary and terminal at the ends of 

 the branches. Calyx: of three sepals on the receptacle. Corolla: broader 

 than high ; of six to nine rounded petals. Stamens : numerous. Pistils : 

 numerous; arranged in the shape of a cone. Fruit: cone-like; red, each pod 

 with one or two scarlet seeds. 



It is only in the north that this exquisite tree is reduced to 

 the condition of a shrub of from about four to twenty feet 

 high. Its bloom, however, is quite as waxen and fragrant as 

 when borne on the more statelv tree of the south. Another 



