282 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



ginning of April, and the odour of the flowers is perceived at a great distance. 

 This is the tree, the ripened seeds of which produced M. c. Soulangeawcr. 

 The original plant of M. c. Sou\anged?ia, at Fromont, is not more than 12 ft. 

 high, and, though it has flowered every year for several years past, it did not 

 ripen seeds till 1834. These seeds have been sown ; and M. Soulange-Bodin 

 informs us that he expects some interesting new sorts from them. In the 

 botanic garden at Ghent there is a standard tree of M. conspicua 22 ft. high. 

 In Germany, M. conspfcua is trained against a wall, or kept in the conser- 

 vatory ; and in Italy, and the South of Europe, it has not been long planted; 

 though both the species, and the var. M. c. Soulangeawa, are at Monza, where, 

 as before noticed, M. conspicua has ripened seeds ; as has also, as Signor 

 Manetti informs us, M. c. Soulange«»#. 



Commercial Statistics. The price of M. conspfcua in the London nurseries 

 is from 2s. 6d. to 5s. a plant ; at Bollwyller, 10 francs ; in New York, ?. 



* 10. M. purpurea Bot. Mag. The purple-Jloivered Magnolia. 



Identification. Sims, in Bot. Mag. 



Synonymes. M. obovata Thun. ; M. dfscolor Vent. ; M. denudata Lam. ; the obovate-leaved Mag. 



nolia ; Magnolier discolor^ Bon. Jard., and Magnolie bicolore Dun., Fr. ; rothe Bieberbaum, 



Ger. 

 Engravings. Sal. Par., t 87. ; Bot. Mag., t. 390. ; E. of PL, 7908. ; and our Jig. 36. 



Spec. Char. Deciduous. Leaves obovate, acute, reticulately veined ; almost 

 smooth. Flowers erect, of 3 sepals and 6 obovate petals ; styles very short. 

 (Don's Mill., 1. p. 84.) A shrub from Japan, with flowers purple on the 

 outside, and white within. March, April, and May. 1790. 

 Varieties. In De Candolle's Prodromus, and in Don's Miller, three varieties 

 are described : M. /?. denudata Lam., distinguished by the flowering 

 branches being without leaves ; M. p. discolor Vent., which is said to be 

 rather more tender than the species; and M. p. Mlijlora Lam., the petals of 

 which are white on both sides. These varieties were originally described 

 by Kasmpfer ; but, as far as we know, none of them are in British gardens. 

 Several plants of this species having been raised from seed ripened in this 

 country, the plants may exhibit slight shades of difference, as has been the 

 case with certain seedlings raised in the Brentford Nursery ; but, as far as 

 we have observed, none of these are worth keeping distinct. The only 

 variety which we consider truly distinct is M. p. gracilis, considered as a 

 species by Salisbury and other botanists, but which, we are convinced, is 

 nothing more than a race, or a variety. 

 Description. A deciduous shrub, attaining, 36 



in the gardens about London, the height of r^^ 



from 6 ft. to 10 ft. in as many years, and seldom Wr ^ 



growing much higher as a bush. The stems are 



numerous, but not much branched ; the leaves 



are large, of a very dark green ; and the plant 



produces a profusion of flowers, which do not 



expand fully till a day or two before they drop 



off; and which, unless the weather is warm, do 



not expand at all, but wither on the plant, 



and disfigure it. The flowers are large, more 



or less purple (according to the season, but 



never wholly dark purple) without, and always 



white within. The bark, when bruised, has an 



aromatic odour. It is a very ornamental species, 



and no garden ought to be without it. 



Geography, History, fyc. Found wild in 



Japan ; and cultivated there, and in China, in 



gardens. It was discovered by Thunberg, and 



imported by him into England, in 1790. It has 



since been generally distributed thoughout the botanic and first-rate privat e 



gardens of Europe. About London and Paris, it is not only propagated fo r 



