CHAP. in. 



267 



Commercial Statistics. Price, in the London nurseries, of young plants in 

 pots, M. grandifldra, 35. 6d. ; M. g. obovata, or obtusifolia, 7s. Qd. ; M. g. exo- 

 niensis, 5s. ; at Bollwyller, where this species is a green-house plant, from 

 3 francs to 25 francs ; and in New York, 1 dollar, and the seeds 9 dollars per 

 quart. 



± 2. M. GLAu'cA L. The glaucous-Zmwc? Magnolia. 



Identification. " Lin. Sp., 2. p. 755. ; Willd. Arb., p. 2.30. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 80. ; Don's Mill,, 1. p. 82. 

 Synonymes. M. frjlgrans SWi'sS. ; Swamp Sassafras, Beaver- wood, white Bay, small. Magnolia, 



Swamp Magnolia ; Magnolie glauque, Arbre de Castor, Fr. ; grauer Bieberbaum, Ger. 

 derivations. It is named Swamp Sassafras on account of its grov/ing in boggy places, and resembling; 



in qualities the Laurus Sassafras ; and Beaver-wood, because the root is eaten as a great dainty ;by the 



beavers, and these animals are caught by means of it. It also grows in the swamps, which they in. 



habit; and Michaux tells us that it3is felled by them for constructing thelrdens and houses, inpre- 



fevence to any other tree, on account of the soflness;of the wood. 

 Engravings. Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 215. ; Sims, Bot. Mag., 216*.} Nouv. Duh., 2. p. 223. ;E. of Pl.,79a5:; 



and our plate of this species in Vol. II. 



Spec. Char. Almost deciduous. Leaves elliptical, obtuse, under surface glau- 

 cous. Flower 9 — 12-petaled, contracted. Petals ovate, concave. (^DoiCs 

 Mill., i. p. 82.) North America. Flowers white, scented. June to Sep- 

 tember. 1688. Height, in England, 20 ft. 



Varieties. The only aboriginal varieties, if varieties they can be called (for 

 they appear to be only variations), are, that which retains its leaves during 

 the greater part of the year, which appears to depend upon the moisture of 

 the soil in which the plant grows, and which is called, in the nurseries, M. 

 glauca sempervu-ens ; that which assumes more of the tree character, and 

 is called M. glauca arborea ; and a third, noticed by Pursh, which has the 

 under surface of the leaves somewhat silvery, and is accordingly named M. 

 g. argentea. 



^ M. glauca 2 Thompsomkna, Thomp. ThompsorCs g/«McoMS-leaved Mag' 

 nolia. M. glauca var. a major {Bot. Mag., new edit. p. 36.) — This is 

 a supposed hybrid between M. glauca and M. tripetala ; though it 

 may possibly be only a long-leaved arboreous variety of M. glauca. 

 It was noticed in a pot of seedlings by Mr. Thompson, in his nursery 

 at Mile End, and by him kept distinct, and propagated under the 

 above name. We should say that it was only a variety or race of 

 the aboriginal species, enlarged in all its parts. 



^ M. glauca 3 longifolia Hort., the long-leaved glaucous Magnolia, is a 

 variety produced, as it is supposed, between M. tripetala and M. 

 glauca. It was originated in Belgium, and imported into this country 

 by Mr. Knight of the Exotic Nursery, King's Road, Chelsea. It is 

 in appearance intermediate between the two species ,• and seems to 

 correspond with the M. longifolia of Pursh. The leaves are elliptical, 

 acute at both ends, longer than those of M. glauca Thompsonidna, 

 and resembling those of M, tripetala, but thicker, smaller, and glaucous 

 underneath. It is a very handsome tree, and, supposing it to be that 

 described by Pursh, it is found in Florida and Georgia. The flowers 

 are sweet-scented, and resemble those of M. glauca Thompsoniarea, 

 but are smaller. 



Other Varieties. M. glauca Go7-donrdna, and M. glauca Burchell'mua, are 

 variations or varieties, the names of which are found in some nurserymen's 

 catalogues ; the former having been raised by jV'Ir. Gordon, at Mile End, and 

 the other by Mr. Burchell, at Fulham : but they do not appear to us at all 

 distinct. There are also semi-double and double-flowered varieties in some 

 nurserymen's catalogues, but the only distinct varieties are M. glauca 

 ThompsouMwa, and M. glauca longifolia. 



Description. A low tree, nearly evergreen, with slender stem, covered with 

 a smooth whitish bark. The wood is white and spongy. The leaves are 

 smooth, of a bluish green on their upper surface, and whitish or glaucous and 

 a little hairy underneath. The flowers are produced in May or June, at the 

 cxtreniity of the last year's shoots. They have six concave white petals, and 



