SPRING-FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 185 



ever, it had earlier received the name of stellata, and 

 that had to take precedence. This M. stellata is the 

 first of all Magnolias to open its blossoms and is al- 

 ways a broad and shapely shrub growing eight to 

 twelve or fifteen feet high and more in diameter; the 

 star-shaped, snow-white flowers are smaller than 

 those of other species but are borne in such profusion 

 as to cover the bush with white. This is one of the 

 most beautiful and most satisfactory of all spring- 

 flowering shrubs and is extremely hardy. There is 

 also a variety (rosea), with delicate pink flowers, 

 which makes a lovely companion to the type. A 

 fourth species (M. kobus) also hails from Japan, where 

 it is common in the forests on the mountains through- 

 out the greater part of that land. The southern and 

 typical form is a large bush or low tree, but the north- 

 ern form (var. borealis) is a shapely tree from sixty to 

 seventy-five feet tall with a smooth trunk six feet in 

 girth. This variety, borealis, was introduced in 1876, 

 by Mr. W. S. Clark and trees raised from the original 

 seeds are now thirty feet tall and have broad pyramid- 

 ate crowns. It flowered for the first time in cultiva- 

 tion in April, 1899, in the garden of Professor 

 Sargent, Brookline, Mass., but the blossoms were 

 sparse. In subsequent years it has flowered in many 

 gardens and much more profusely, and it is the most 



