FEBRUARY, 1916 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE - 21 
The Garland Flower (Daphne ecneorum), a low- 
growing tufted evergreen that blooms intermittently 
all the year through. Flowers rosy, fragrant 
upon European plants, but upon those of China 
and Japan. These lands too have their catkin- 
bearing Willows, Poplars, Alders and Hazel- 
nuts, and their Elms, Maples and other plants 
with flowers clustered on naked twigs. They 
have, in addition, a variety of shrubs and trees 
which have large and brightly colored flow- 
ers that are conspicuous from afar, and it is 
these that are found most commonly in our 
The earliest flowering of all the Magnolias is Hall’s (M. stellata). 
gardens and it is these that we all admire so 
much. 
TREES WITH THE LARGEST FLOWERS 
Of all hardy trees Magnolias have the largest 
flowers, and no trees are more beautiful and 
few so amenable to cultivation. Now, Mag- 
nolias are confined to this country east of the 
Mississippi Valley, and to eastern Asia and the 
Himalaya. All the American species produce 
their flowers at the same time as the leaves or 
after the latter are fully unfolded. A similar 
group grows in the forests of China and Japan; 
but, in addition, there are species native of 
those lands which bear flowers abundantly on 
the naked shoots. It is these that give such a 
gorgeous display of blossoms in early Spring 
and are everywhere so highly esteemed in gar- 
dens and parks. Centuries before their intro- 
duction to western lands these plants were 
favorites in the gardens of China and Japan, 
where their flowers are regarded as a symbol 
of candor and beauty. 
The Yulan (commonly known as Magnolia 
conspicua, but correctly as M. denudata) is 
authentically known to have been cultivated is 
China since about A. D. 618. The white- 
flowered form of the Yulan was introduced to 
English gardens in 1779, and is now grown 
almost everywhere in the Occident. It grows 
wild in moist woods in the central parts of 
China, but this fact has only recently been 
made known. This form, however, is rare in a 
wild state and that most usually met has rosy 
or reddish-pink flowers. This variety has like- 
wise been long cultivated in China and also in 
Japan, where it is known as Sarasa-renge and 
in Japanese nursery catalogues as V/. obovata 
discolor; correctly, it should be VW. denudata 
var. purpurascens. In 1900, I introduced this 
One 
It is free flowering and quite hardy. 
of the oldest and best of Asiatic introductions to our gardens 
Who does not look for this early herald of spring, 
the Pussy Willow? 
quite showy 
The yellow tipped stamens are 
variety by means of seeds collected from wild 
trees in central China but as yet the plants 
have not borne flowers. However, I strongly 
suspect that it has been cultivated in western 
gardens for a much longer pericd, under some 
other name, and its identity obscured. 
Both the white and colored varieties of the 
Yulan make trees fifty feet tall, with a trunk 
eight feet in girth, and have ascending and 
spreading branches. Such trees I have seen in 
the forests of central China laden with thou- 
sands of flowers, and the spectacle they pre- 
sented will never be forgotten. In western gar- 
dens examples of the white variety twenty to 
twenty-five feet tall are known, and fine speci- 
mens are common in the gardens of eastern 
North America where the Yulan is a very 
popular tree. 
The second species to be introduced to our 
gardens was the Purple-flowered Magnolia 
(usually known as WV. obovata, M. purpurea or 
M. discolor, but correctly as WM. liliflora) , which 
reached England in 1790. This, like the Yulan, 
has long been cultivated in China and Japan, 
but it has. not yet been authoritatively re- 
ported in a wild state. It is a much less hardy 
plant than the Yulan and appears to be always 
a shrub. In this country it is well known and 
thrives in gardens south of Philadelphia. The 
flowers are dark wine-red and very handsome. 
Under cultivation in Europe several hybrids 
between VW. denudata and WV. liliflora have been 
raised. The oldest and best known of these 
hybrids is Soulangeana, with flowers suffused 
with rose. This is a hardy and vigorous grow- 
ing tree and some very finé examples are 
known in this country. Other of these hybrids 
are rustica rubra, with deep rose colored flow- 
ers; and Lennei, which originated in Italy, has 
rich crimson-purple flowers, and blossoms late. 
Both are strong growing, free-flowering plants. 
In 1862, Dr. G. R. Hall, on his return from 
Japan, brought with him and handed over to 
Mr. S. B. Parsons, at Flushing, L. I., a col- 
lection of plants that have proved of immense 
yalue to gardens. Among the many good things 
was a Magnolia, which Parsons afterward dis- 
tributed as I. Halleana to commemorate the 
name of its introducer. Unfortunately, how- 
ever, it had earlier received the name of stel- 
lata, and that had to take precedence. This 
M. stellata is the first of all Magnolias to open 
its blossoms and is always a broad and shapely 
shrub growing eight to twelve or fifteen feet 
high and more in diameter; the star-shaped, 
snow-white flowers are smaller than those of 
other species but are borne in such profusion 
as to cover the bush with white. This is one of 
the most beautiful and most satisfactory of all 
spring-flowering shrubs and is extremely hardy. 
There is also a variety (rosea), with delicate 
pink flowers, which makes a lovely companion 
to the type. A fourth species (IM. kobus) also 
hails from Japan, where it is common in the 
forests on {he mountains throughout the 
greater part of that land. The southern and 
