1584 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



the Brazos river in Texas, ascending in the Mississippi valley to southern Arkansas 

 and the mouth of the Yazoo river. It is best developed in the forests of western 

 Louisiana, where it is one of the most characteristic trees. It usually grows in rich 

 moist soil on the borders of river swamps and of the ponds in the pine-barrens. 

 Plate 353, reproduced from a photograph kindly sent by Miss Cummings, shows the 

 habit of the evergreen Magnolia in North Carolina. (A. H.) 



The date of introduction is somewhat uncertain, but it is supposed on good 

 authority to have been grown at Exmouth by Sir John CoUiton before. 1737, and a 

 tree there, of which a long account is given in Gardeners Magazine, xi. 70 (1835), 

 was for many years the parent by layering of great numbers of plants, and was cut 

 down by mistake in 1794. 



This tree surpasses all others in the temperate zone except perhaps the 

 Himalayan M. Campbelli, in the beauty, size, and fragrance of its flowers ; but 

 being a native of more southern climates, it only succeeds without protection in 

 the warmest parts of Great Britain, and even then is but a poor and stunted 

 tree compared to what it is in south-western France, Portugal, and Italy. 



Though rarely planted as a standard tree we have seen it up to 20 to 30 ft. high 

 in a few places, the best perhaps being at Powderham Castle. It was, however, 

 reported '^ in 1894 to be 36 ft. high by 4 ft. 8 in. in girth at East Cowes Castle, and 

 50 ft. by 5 ft. at Rozel Bay, Jersey. A tree at Gunnersbury House measured 31 ft. 

 by 2 ft. 8 in. in 191 1. There are two trees in the Azalea garden at Kew, about 23 

 ft. high ; and a fine specimen trained against the Museum, which is about 35 ft. high. 



On a wall even in cold parts of England it has survived a temperature below 

 zero, though it only flowers after two good seasons, and then often so late that the 

 flowers are cut off by early frosts. Though it sets seeds in hot summers, I am not 

 aware that they ever ripen here ; and plants which I have raised from foreign seed 

 grow slowly and want greenhouse treatment for some years. 



The largest trees that I have seen in Europe of this species are in the garden of 

 Baron Soutelinho (Mr. A. Tait) at Oporto, one of which, now nearly dead, was 

 I \\ ft. in girth, and another, also showing signs of decay, was 62 ft. by 1 1 ft. A 

 third with a fine stem clean of branches to 35 ft. was in perfect vigour and 60 ft. by 

 7 ft. in 1909. In France the largest that I know are in the public gardens of 

 Bordeaux, one of which, that had been transplanted when already an old tree, was 

 59 ft. by 6 ft. 3 in. in 1909. 



On the Isola Madre in Lake Maggiore, I measured a tree in 1906 which was 

 70 ft. by 6 ft. 9 in. and ripened seed freely. 



Sargent says that this species has the hardest, heaviest, and best wood of the 

 American Magnolias, but it is little used, even in the United States, and hardly 

 known in commerce. I believe, however, that some of it is mixed with the so-called 

 canary or white wood {Liriodendron), and is not easy to distinguish without careful 

 examination. It is a close-grained wood of pale creamy yellow, or brownish yellow 

 colour, showing a minute silver grain, and looks as if it would take a fine polish. 



(H. J. E.) 



1 Card. Chron. xvi. 286, 375 (1894). 



