Magnolia. 



MAGNOLIACE^.. 27 



Order II. MAGNOLIACEiE. Juss. The Magnolia Tribe. 



Calyx of 3 - 6 deciduous sepals, somewhat petaloid. Petals 3 to many, usually 

 in several rows. Stamens numerous ; filaments short ; anthers long, adnate 

 and introrse. Ovaries several in a single row, or numerous and spicate on a 

 prolonged receptacle or axis : styles short or none ; stigmas simple. Carpels 

 numerous, 1 - 2-seeded, aggregated or connate, and forming a strobile or cone- 

 like fruit. Seeds anatropous, suspended or ascending, often with a pulpy 

 exterior covering. Embryo minute, at the base of fleshy albumen. — Trees or 

 shrubs, with large, alternate, usually coriaceous leaves, which are commonly 

 punctate with minute dots : stipules membranaceous, convolute or applied face 

 to face, caducous. 



1. MAGNOLIA. Linn.; Endl gen. i^Sl. MAGNOLIA. 



[Named in honor of Prof. Magnol, a French botanist.] 



Sepals 3, caducous, sometimes none, or confounded with the petals. Petals 6-12, caducous. 

 Carpels 1 -2-seeded, persistent, forming a strobile-like fruit, dehiscent by the dorsal suture. 

 Seeds baccate, cordate when ripe, and the carpel opens suspended by a long funiculus 

 composed entirely of spiral vessels.— Trees (rarely only large shrubs). Flowers sohtary 

 and showy, mostly fragrant. 



1. Magnolia glauca, Linn. Common Magnolia. Sweet Bay. Brewster. 



Leaves oblong or oval, white beneath ; petals 9-12, ovate, narrowed at the base, erect.— 

 Michx. fl. 1. p. 327 ; Michx. f. sylv. 1 . p. 274. t. 52 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 37 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 

 229, and med. hot. t. 26 ; Darlingt.Jl. Cest. p. 325 ; Torr. ^ Gr.fl. N. Am. I. p. 42. 



A shrub or small tree, from 8 to 30 feet high, with a smooth whitish bark. Leaves 3-5 

 mches long and 1 - 2 inches wide, rather acute, or obtuse, bright shining green above, very 

 glaucous beneath, silky when young, deciduous. Flowers terminal, 2-3 inches in diameter, 

 on thick peduncles of about an inch in length, very fragrant. Sepals oblong, concave. 

 Petals white, as long as the sepals. Carpels in a head 1 - Ij inch long, ovate, opening lon- 

 gitudinally, 1 -seeded. Seeds as large as small peas, bright red, suspended for some time on 

 a long thread-like funiculus. 



Cedar swamps {Cupressus thuyoides), Long Island: not found elsewhere in the State. 

 May - June. Fr. September. 



The bark of this plant is a stimulating aromatic tonic and diaphoretic. Wood 4- Bache's 

 U. S. Dispent. 



