DECIDUOUS TREES. 373 



and smooth, so that it can be distinguished from the M. tripetela in 

 the winter by this feature. Young plants are said to grow slow 

 until well established, but after they are well rooted the annual 

 growth is from fifteen to thirty inches. It will bear a dryer soil 

 than the M. acuminata, but depth, richness, and a; surface pro- 

 tected from the sun are indispensable. It would give us great 

 pleasure to have this noble species named after its discoverer — 

 Michaux. It was at one time so known in Europe, and we 

 have inserted this name as a synonym, in hopes that it may yet 

 be adopted. Nearly all the magnolias being remarkable for their 

 large leaves, the title of large-leaved has not a very specific sig- 

 nification. 



Bartram's Magnolia.* M. auriculata. — The ear-leaved mag- 

 nolia of Loudon and the nursery catalogues. This sort was dis- 

 covered by that great tree-enthusiast, Bartram, in the mountainous 

 regions of the Carolinas, three hundred miles from the sea. Mi- 

 chaux says, "I have nowhere found it so abundant as on the 

 steepest part of the lofty mountains of North Carolina, par- 

 ticularly those which are called by the inhabitants Great Father 

 Mountains, and Black and Iron Mountains." " The soil of these 

 mountains is deep, brown, and of an excellent quality, * * * 

 and the atmosphere in such situations, is continually charged with 

 moisture." 



It is found in but few regions. 



Bartram thus describes it as seen wild. " This tree (or per- 

 haps rather shrub) rises eighteen to thirty feet in height. There 

 are usually many stems from a root, which lean a litde, or slightly 

 diverge from each other, in this respect imitating the Magnolia 

 tripetela ; the crooked wreathing branches arising and subdividing 

 from the main stem without order or uniformity. Their extremities 

 turn iipwards, producing a very large roseaceous, perfectly white 

 double flower, which is of a most fragrant scent. This fine flower 

 sits in the centre of a radius of very large leaves, which are of a 



* We have taken the liberty of re-naming this species in honor of the discoverer, with the hope 

 that the feehngs which dictate the innovation will be shared by American tree-cultivators. 



