SWAMP MAGNOLIA 
nor will it remain in continuous bloom throughout the sum- 
mer unless in a moist situation. It must have water in order 
to do its best. 
The flowers appear in May, solitary, at the ends of the 
branches, cream-white, large as a rose and fragrant as a lily. 
Under favorabie conditions they will continue to appear 
through the greater part of the summer, and the combination 
of these creamy blossoms surrounded by the dark shining 
leaves is beautiful indeed. 
By midsummer the fruit has formed, a green oval mass, 
made up of many seed-vessels which have grown together. 
When ripe this becomes red and is about two inches long. The 
enclosed seeds turn a brilliant scarlet, and when released from 
their prison walls hang down for awhile on their slender white 
threads, and finally fall to the ground or are eaten by birds. 
In taste they are aromatic, pungent, and slightly bitter. 
This charming little tree has a variety of common names, 
referring to its size or its habitat or its individual characteris- 
tics. Among these names is Beaver-wood, given because the 
fleshy roots were eagerly eaten by the beavers, who consid- 
ered them such a dainty that they could be caught in traps 
baited with them. Michaux relates that the wood was used 
by the beavers in constructing their dams and houses in pref- 
erence to any other. 
The tree is easily propagated by layers which, however, 
root slowly ; but the preferred method is to graft it upon a 
root of the Cucumber-tree, AZ acuminata, where it makes a 
stronger growth than upon its own roots. To obtain plants 
from the seeds they should be preserved in moist earth and 
sown very early in the spring in a moist situation. 
Magnolia tripetala, the Umbrella-tree, frequently planted on 
northern lawns, is a southern species ranging from Pennsyl- 
vania to the Gulf. It may be easily recognized by its great 
leaves, twelve to eighteen inches long, and four to eight inches 
broad. ‘These radiate from the ends of the branches in such 
a way as to suggest an open umbrella, whence its common 
name. Often it sprawls, a straggling bush. The huge, ter- 
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