10 LETTER XXVI, 



one within the other ; this is the great mark of the Mag- 

 nolia tribe, and enables you immediately to distinguish 

 it, not only from the Crowfoots, but from most of those 

 allied to it. And this is not only a curious but an 

 important and highly interesting mark of distinc- 

 tion ; the growing point of a branch of a Magnolia 

 is tender, and requires to be carefully protected from 

 the air, and from cold, and from those accidents to 

 which all things must necessarily be subject that are 

 directly exposed. To guard this tender part nature 

 has many singular, but always most efficient, contriv- 

 ances : in this instance the stipules are made to per- 

 form the business of protection. 



The fruit of Magnolias differs in some respects 

 from that of the Crowfoot tribe : especially in be- 

 coming large cones, from the back of which the seeds 

 often hang down by long cords ; but as Magnolias do 

 not produce their fruit in this country it is unneces- 

 sary to describe this part of their structure. 



Besides the plants called Magnolias, the curious 

 Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), one of the largest 

 trees in the American forests, belongs to the present 

 Order. You may know it by its singular truncated 

 leaves, which look as if they were cut off at the end, 

 and by its large pale green and purple flowers. It is 

 not uncommon in the pleasure grounds of the old 

 gentry of this country ; some of the finest are to be 

 seen at Sion, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland. 



From these let us turn to a not less interesting, but 

 more humble race of plants, of which the common 



