THE ROMANCE OF OUR TREES 



out of doors in northern latitudes. It is worth a 

 journey to Louisiana to see this tree luxuriating on 

 its native heath where it is sometimes loo feet tall 

 and 12 feet in girth of trunk. It has many rela- 

 tively short, spreading branches which form a bell- 

 shaped crown. The leaves are of good size, glossy 

 green above, gray to rust-red on the underside. The 

 flowers are cup-shaped, fully 8 inches across, white 

 fading to cream with a rather heavy spicy odour. 

 Like other American Magnolias it was early intro- 

 duced into Europe; it was in England in 1737 but is 

 only properly hardy in the most favoured parts of 

 that country. The Bay Laurel is one of the few 

 American trees that have been introduced to the 

 Orient. In the Public Gardens, Shanghai, there are 

 several shapely trees, and in Japan it grows well in 

 Yokohama, Tokyo, and places to the south. In 

 Europe a great many seedling forms have appeared 

 differing in trivial characters, chiefly those of the 

 leaf. The most marked are varieties angustifolia, 

 ferruginea, lanceolata, and ohovata. 



The Asiatic Magnolias, or rather the few hardy 

 species that open their blossoms before the leaves 

 unfold, are the most popular members of the family 

 and the most conspicuous of spring-flowering plants. 

 Two of these are great favourites with the flower- 

 loving peoples of China and Japan where one — the 



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