FLORA AND SYLVA, 



Flowers appearing 



The Cucumber Tree (M. acuminata). — This 

 forms a large tree 60 to 90 feet in height, with a 

 trunk 2 to 4 feet in diameter. Its English name 

 is owing to the slight resemblance borne by the 

 young fruits to a small cucumber. The leaves, from 



5 to 10 inches long, are oblong, pointed, green, and 

 slightly hairy beneath. The slightly fragrant, bell- 

 shaped flowers are a glaucous green colour tinged 

 with yellow. The wood is " soft, close-grained, pre- 

 ferred for pump logs " (Sargent's " Catalogue of the 

 Forest Trees of North America"). 



In a wild state it is found in rich woods from 

 West New York to Ohio and southward. It is a 

 tall, somewhat slender tree, reaching its largest size 

 and abundance in the narrow valleys about the base 

 of the high mountains of Carolina and Tennessee. 

 From " Hortus Collinsonianus" we learn that the 

 Cucumber Tree was introduced to this country by 

 Collinson. His memoranda respecting it are as fol- 

 lows : " My two deciduous or mountain Magnolias 

 were planted from seed in 1746 ; planted one in the 

 corner of the bed in the best garden. May 20, 1762, 

 the mountain Magnolia flowered in my garden, 

 which I raised from seed about twenty years ago, 

 being the largest and highest tree in England, and 

 is yet in very few gardens." At the present time 

 there are handsome trees of this species at Kew, the 

 finest being 45 feet in height, spread of branches 

 46 feet, circumference of stem at one foot from the 

 ground 5 feet. To Mr. Woodbridge I am indebted 

 for the dimensions of the largest specimen now at 

 Syon, viz., height, 34 feet ; girth of trunk, 5 feet 



6 inches ; spread of branches, 33 feet. Mr. F. W. 

 Burbidge has kindly furnished me with the measure- 

 ments of the finest tree in the Trinity College Botanic 

 Gardens at Dublin : height about 55 feet, circum- 

 ference of trunk 30 inches. Mr. F. W. Moore 

 writes me from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glas- 

 nevin, respecting a fine tree near Ardee, in co. 

 Louth ; this is 30 feet high, and has a very fine head. 

 Finally, Mr. E. Burrell sends me particulars of a 

 grand tree at Claremont : height, 40 feet ; circum- 

 ference of stem at 1 8 inches from the ground, 5 feet 

 6 inches. The measurements of the different trees 

 just mentioned were taken in 1883. — Sp. Plant., 

 2^,756 ; Michaux, " Flora Boreali-Americana" 1, 

 328 ; " Nouveau Duhamel," 2, 222 ; Michx. fii, 

 "Arbres Forestiers de FAmdrique Septentrionale," 3, 82, 

 tab. 3 ; Loddiges '■'■Botanical Cabinet" 418 ; '■'■Botanical 

 Magazine" tab. 24.27 ; Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit., 

 1, 273, tab. 7 and 8 ; Gray, " Manual of the Botany 

 of the Northern United States," 49 ; Koch, " Dendro- 

 logie," erst. Theil, p. 371 ; Sargent, " Silva of North 

 America," tt. 4, 5. 



AFTER THE LEAVES. 



Var. aurea is a valuable ornamental tree with 

 golden foliage, slightly streaked and mottled with 

 green. It originated in an American nursery, but 

 I am ignorant of its exact history. 



The Yellow Cucumber Tree {M. cordatd). 

 — According to Loudon, this was introduced into 

 England in 1800. It was discovered by the elder 

 Michaux in forests along the banks of rivers in 

 Georgia. It is quite hardy in the south of England 

 at any rate, and good specimens are to be seen in 

 the arboretum at Kew. The leaves are broadly 

 ovate, more or less heart-shaped at the base, the 

 upper surface being smooth, and the lower tomen- 

 tose. The very faintly odorous yellow flowers^ the 

 interior petals being frequently marked with reddish 

 lines, are from 3 to 4 inches across. The yellow 

 Cucumber Tree forms a small or medium-sized tree. 

 It differs from the last-named species in its smaller 

 bright canary-yellow flowers, in its broader, darker 

 green, more persistent leaves, sometimes heart- 

 shaped at the base. The exact counterpart of our 

 cultivated plant has, it appears, not been rediscovered 

 in a wild state. — Michx., '■'•Flora Boreali- Americana," 

 1, 328; Michx. fil., "Arbres Forestiers de V Amerique 

 Septentrionale," 3, 87, 4; "Botanical Register," 4, 

 tab. 325; Loddiges' "Botanical Cabinet ," tab. 474; 

 Reichenbach, "Flora Exotica," t. 250 ; Loudon, Arb. et 

 Frut. Brit., 1, 275, t. 9 ; Koch, " Dendrologie," erst. 

 Theil, p. 371. M. striata, Hort. M. acuminata, var. 

 cordata, Sargent, " Silva of North America," t. 6. 



M. Delavayi. — This is a new species which 

 at present only exists in cultivation in the Coombe 

 Wood Nurseries of Messrs. Veitch. It is an ever- 

 green tree with rather long-stalked leathery leaves, 

 which are silvery beneath. The egg-shaped flowers 

 are white and fragrant, the petals being thick, and 

 in form oblong-spathulate. As a species it comes 

 somewhat near the Himalayan M. Griffithii and 

 M. spenocarpa, neither of which has yet found its 

 way to European gardens. M. Delavayi is a native 

 of Yunnan, where it was collected by Dr. Henry 

 on rocky mountains, at elevations of from 5,500 

 to 7,000 feet. — Franchet in " Plants Delavayanx" 

 p. 33, tab. 9, 10. 



The Ear-leaved Umbrella Tree (M. 

 Fraseri). — This species attains a height of from 30 

 to 50 feet. The light green glabrous leaves, which 

 are oblong-obovate or spathulate in form and auri- 

 cled at the base, are from 8 to 12 inches in length 

 by about half that breadth ; as in the Umbrella 

 tree, they are mostly crowded together at the tips 

 of the flowering branches in an umbrella-like circle. 

 The flowers are milky-white, and measure 3 or 4 

 inches in diameter ; according to Loudon, they are 



