Magnolia. 83 



to be Indigenous to New England, its northern limit being 

 in the swamps of Cape Ann near the sea. It grows 

 freely in the southern Middle States, where it appears as a 

 well-formed, small tree, and can be safely transplanted as 

 far north as Canada. The foliage is good, the leaves being 

 elliptic in form, from three to five inches in length, dark 

 green above and whitish beneath. The flowers are white, 

 composed of nine delicate petals tapering at the base, 

 and arranged in three circles which unfold in succession. 

 They appear in May or June, are fragrant and of long 

 continuance on the branches. Though not one of the 

 most conspicuous members of the family it is worthy of 

 more attention in garden planting than is usually accorded 

 to it. 



M. conspicua, known also as the yulan, as it was intro- 

 duced from a Chinese province by that name, is one of the 

 most beautiful of all the hardy magnolias, and has come to 

 be planted accordingly. It grows to be a tree in some- 

 what shrubby form, from twenty to thirty feet high, and 

 with numerous branches. The foliage is good, the flowers 

 large, pearly white, and produced in such profusion as to 

 almost hide the stems and branches from observation. 

 They are cup-shaped, from seven to nine inches long and 

 three to five across, appearing just as the leaf-buds begin 

 to open. I have counted twelve hundred of these great 

 blossoms upon a single tree growing in Newport, which 

 for many years has not once failed to be such an object of 

 beauty as to attract visitors, who never weary of admiring 

 and praising it. The tree is reasonably hardy, but does 

 best when planted on the southerly side of a wall, where 



