THE MAGNOLIAS. 121 
YULAN MAGNOLIA. 
This tree has but lately been tried in this country, and 
can as yet hardly be pronounced upon. In all probabil- 
ity it will prove asuccess. It can hardly be called a tree, 
however, but only a shrub. It bears a beautiful white 
flower, which makes its appearance before the leaves, 
and has a very sweet, penetrating odor. It is found in 
greatest profusion about New York, where it is hardiest. 
In young trees the leaves are from six to eight inches 
broad, and three to four inches across the widest portion. 
I would especially recommend the following for culti- 
vation: Conspicuous -flowered magnolia and Empress 
Alexandrina’s. In the conspicuous-ftowered magnolia, 
though very closely resembling the other species, one 
accustomed to trees would distinguish the difference by 
the odor of the blossoms and in the thickness of the 
branches, the conspicuous- flowered magnolia having 
much the stoutest branches. The Empress Alexan- 
drina’s conspicuous-flowered magnolia was first brought 
into England by Sir James Banks about the year 1788, 
where, after a hard struggle, it at length, after eight or 
ten years, attracted attention, and became one of the 
leading hot-house shrubs. It flowers every year, and 
thrives best in the neighborhood and about the same 
parallel as London, New York, and Philadelphia. To 
give some idea of the immense number of flowers this 
tree bears, I will cite an instance from Browne’s work 
on trees. He says: “An original imported plant, trained 
against a wall at Woombybury, in England, measured 
twenty-seven feet in height, and covered a space later- 
ally of twenty-four feet, and had on it, in April, 1835, 
five thousand flowers. 
This tree will thrive in any rich, free soil, properly 
drained and slightly enriched. As a background, it 
should have an ivy-covered wall, or some kind of ever- 
green shrub or plant, on account of its bearing flowers 
