June 1906 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



269 



Ieuca means greenish white, referring to the 

 under side of -the leaves which is almost as 

 white as in our native M. glanca. This 

 species resembles our native umbrella trees 

 in having the leaves bunched at the ends of 

 the branches, while those of the two pre- 

 ceding are scattered along the branches. 



THE BEST EVERGREEN MAGNOLIA ' 



"In the bull bay, as it is sometimes called, " 

 writes Mr. Nicholson, "the temperate 

 countries of the world have the most beau- 

 tiful 'evergreen tree known to gardens." 

 This grand pyramidal tree grows eighty feet 

 high in the South, and has white flowers 

 seven or eight inches across, with purple 

 stamens. The flowers have a superb back- 

 ground in the broad, thick, dark green, 

 glossy leaves which are five to eight inches 

 long. There is a great difference of opinion 

 about their odor. Professor Sargent has 

 called this species M. fcetida. 



This is the species whose leaves are used 

 for Christmas decoration because of their 

 magnificent evergreen character and the 

 warm rusty red coat that covers the under 

 side of the leaves like felt. I shall never 

 buy these leaves again after learning that the 

 easiest way to gather them for the Northern 

 market is to cut down whole trees. The 

 species ought to be called the great laurel 

 magnolia. It is precariously hardy as far 

 north as Philadelphia, but even in Washing- 

 ton the leaves are often disfigured by 

 freezing. 



Mr. Berckmans advises that the leaves of 

 young trees of M. grandiflora should be re- 

 moved before planting, if the trees have been 

 grown in the open ground. With two-year- 

 old pot-grown plants, which are smaller and 

 cheaper, this precaution is not necessary but 

 a four-year-old tree grown in the open will 

 probably bloom a year or two sooner. 



Probably the showiest form of Magnolia 

 grandiflora is the variety gloriosa whose 

 flowers, Mr. Berckmans says, often measure a 

 foot across and sometimes fourteen inches! 

 There are half a dozen varieties offered by 

 European nurserymen. The one called 



INDEX TO MAGNOLIAS 



M. macrophylla, leaves a yard long, and flowers a foot 

 across. The largest flowered garden tree 



Sweet bay (M. ylauca,) has flowers two or three inches 

 across. Evergreen tree south, deciduous shrub north. 



Exoniensis, which belongs to the group known 

 to botanists as variety lanceolata, is said to be 

 more nearly hardy in Europe than the others. 

 The flowers are described as double and the 

 tree is said to bear flowers when only a foot 

 high. The variety Gallisonieri is said to be 

 hardy farther north in California than the 

 other varieties of M. grandiflora. 



THE BIG FISH — STILL UNCAUGHT 



It is possible that even Magnolia grandi- 

 flora may be surpassed, for the botanical ex- 

 plorer, Dr. Henry, has seen one evergreen 

 magnolia tree in the Far East that has leaves 

 two feet and a half long and nine inches wide ! 

 Let us hope that some enterprising American 

 will have the honor of introducing this glori- 

 ous species. 



THREE YELLOWISH FLOWERS 



How good a yellow is possessed by M. cor- 

 data, I cannot say, but it is described as 

 canary color which ought to mean a bright, 

 lively hue and not a sickly, greenish apology. 

 This small tree is closely related to the cu- 

 cumber tree and has been described as a 

 variety of it. The flowers are about four 

 inches across. The leaves not always cordate 

 and then only slightly so. The exact coun- 

 terpart of this species has not been rediscov- 

 ered in the wild. 



The brown-flowered banana shrub, known 

 to nurserymen as Magnolia fuscata is now 

 placed in a separate genus distinguished by 

 technical characters of no interest to the 

 horticulturist. Its proper name is Michelia 

 fuscata. It is called banana shrub be- 

 cause of its odor. The flowers are brownish- 

 yellow edged with carmine and are only i — 1£ 

 inches across. Mr. Berckmans says it is 

 one of the most popular shrubs in the South. 

 Its season is from the end of April until June. 

 A Chinese species. 



The other important Michelia is M. Cham- 

 paca, a tall Himalayan tree with pale yellow 

 flowers two inches across. Whether it has 

 any merit not possessed by Magnolia cordata 

 is not clear. 



Species in black face 



tit 



acuminata, 7 

 Alexandrina, l 

 Banana shrub, 20 

 Brown-flowered shrub, 

 Bull bay, 17 

 Campbelli, 10 

 Champaca, 19 

 conspicua, 12 

 cordata, 18 

 Cucumber tree, 7 

 cyathiformis, 1 

 Ear-leaved, 12 

 Fraseri, 12 

 fuscata, 20 

 glauca, 5 

 glauca, var. < major, 13 

 grandiflora, 17 

 speciosa, 1 

 spectabilis, I 

 stellata, 3 

 superba, I 

 Swamp, 5 

 Sweet bay, 5 



type ; synonyms in italic ; varie- 

 s in roman. 



Thompsoniana, 



Thurber's, 4 

 Great laurel, 17 

 Great-leaved, 8 

 Halleana, 3 

 Heart-leaved, 18 

 hypoleuca, 16 

 Kobus, 4 

 Laurel, 5 

 Lennei, 1 

 macrophylla, 8 

 Norbertiana, 1 

 obovata, g 

 parviflora, 14 

 pumila, 11 

 Purple, 9 

 purpurea, 9 

 rustica rubra, I 

 tripetala, 6 

 triumphans, I 

 Umbrella tree, 6 

 Watsoni, 15 

 White Chinese, 2 



13 



A GUIDE TO THE REAL MERITS OF THE 



DIFFERENT MAGNOLIAS 



A. The hardy species, l. e., those 

 which will survive the win- 

 ters of New York. 

 B. Blooming before the leaves 

 appear, in April. 

 C. Color of fls. pink to pur- 

 ple outside 1. Soulangeana 



CC. Color of fls. white. 



D. Shape of fls. bell-like .... 2. Yulan 

 DD. Shape of fls. flat, star-like. 



E. A bush: petals 9-18 .... 3- stellata 



EE. A tree: petals 6. 4- Kobus 



BB. Blooming after the leaves 

 appear, in May or later. 

 C. Color of fls. pure white. 



D. Size of fls. 2-3 in 5- glauca 



DD. Size of fls. 8-10 in 6. tripetala 



CC. Color of fls. greenish. ... 7. acuminata 

 CCC. Color white, inner petals 

 purple-spotted at 



base 8. macrophylla 



AA. The tender species, not re- 

 liable north of Washington. 

 B. Blooming before the leaves 

 appear. 

 C. Color purple outside; fls. 



scentless 9- obovata 



CC. Color pink shaded purple 



outside, fls. fragrant 10. Campbelli 



BB. Blooming after the Ivs. 

 C. Color pure white. 

 D. Size of fls. small, 1 fin- 

 ches: evergreen shrub. . II. pumila 

 DD. Size of fls. large, 5-9 in- 

 ches. 

 E. Fls. 6-9 inches across: 



lvs. deciduous, eared.. 12. Fraseri 

 EE. Fls. 5-6 inches across: 



lvs. evergreen 13- Thompsoniana 



C. Color white, except pink 

 sepals and filaments: fls. 



3-4 in. across 14- parviflora 



CC. Color white, except red 

 filaments. 

 D. Foliage deciduous. 

 E. Lvs. 4-7 in. long, scat- 

 tered along branches. . 15- Watsoni 

 EE. Lvs. 8-20 in. long, mostly 

 clustered at the ends of 



the branches 16. hypoleuca 



DD. Foliage evergreen ...... 17. grandiflora 



CCC. Color pale or brownish 

 yellow. 

 D. Size of fls. about 4 in. 

 across: color canary yel- 

 low 18. cordata 



DD. Size of fls. 1-2 in. across. 



E. Color pale yellow.. 19. Michelia Champaca 

 EE. Color brownish yellow. .20. Michelia fuscata 



