CHAP, ill. 



M A GN O hlA^CEJE. 



MAGNO 1.1 A. 



273 



^ 5. M, ACUMINATA L. The pointed-Zeawrf Magnolia. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 756. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 80. ; Willd. Baum., p. 230. ; Hayne Deiid., p. 117. i 

 Don's Mill., 1. p. 83. 



Synonymes. M. rCistica, and M. pennsylvanica, of some ; the blue Magnolia, ; the Cucumber Tree, 

 U.S.; Magnolier acurain^, ;MagnoIier ^ Feuilles point^es, Fr.; zugespitzer Bieberbaum, Ger. 



Derivations. This species is called the Cucumber Tree, in America, from its fruit resembling a small 

 cucumber. The other names are translations of the botanic one. 



Engravings. Mich. Arb., 3. p. 82. t. 3. ; Sims, Bot. Mag., 2427. ; Hayne, t 17. ; E. of PI., 7913. ; and 

 our plate in Vol, II. 



Spec. Char. Deciduous. Leaves oval, acuminate, under-surface pubescent* 

 Flowers 6 — 9-petaled. (Don's Mill., p. 83.) A deciduous tree. North 

 America. Flowers yellowish. May to July, 1736. Height from 30 ft. 

 to 40 ft. 



Varieties. 



S jM". a. 2 Candolli Savi. De Canclolle's acmmiate-leaved Magnolia. — Leaves 

 ovate, oblong, acute. Flowers greenish. Figured in Savi's Bibl. Ital., 

 p. 224. 



^ M. a. 3 maxima Lodd. — Leaves much larger than those of the original 

 species. Introduced by Messrs. Loddiges, and cultivated in different 

 nurseries. 



Other Varieties. The Magnolia acuminata being frequently raised from 

 seed, and the seedlings varying much in the size of their leaves, and in the 

 presence or absence of pubescence, both on the leaves and wood, it would 

 be easy to select several varieties apparently as distinct as those above 

 mentioned. Li the Gold worth Nursery, Woking, Surrey, are some which 

 appear remarkably distinct. 



Description. A deciduous tree, in its native country, from 60 ft. to 80 ft 

 in height, with a straight trunk, from 3 ft. to 4 ft. in diameter ; numerous 

 branches, and regularly distributed shoots. The leaves are from 6 in. to 7 in. 

 long, and from Sin. to 4 in. broad, upon old trees, but double that size upon 

 young vigorous-growing plants. Michaux describes them as oval, entire, and 

 very acuminate ; but, in the seedlings raised in British nurseries, they are 

 found sometimes ovate, nearly orbiculate, and cordate-acuminate. The flowers, 

 which are 5 in. or 6 in. in diameter, are bluish, and sometimes white, with a 

 tint of yellow. They have but a feeble odour ; though, as they are large and 

 numerous, they have a fine effect in the midst of the superb foliage. Plants 

 raised from seeds do not usually produce flowers till they are eight or ten years 

 old, when the tree will probably be from 15 ft. to 20 ft. in height; but 

 plants raised from layers produce flowers in two or three years. The fruit 

 is about 3 in. long, and nearly 1 in. in diameter. It is nearly cylindrical, 

 and often a little larger at the summit than at the base : it is convex on 

 one side, and concave on the other; and, when green, it nearly resembles a 

 young cucumber. The fruit is rose-coloured ; and, as in the case of the other 

 species, the seeds, before they drop, remain suspended for some time by long 

 white threads. The wood of this tree is of a fine grain, and of an orange colour. 



Geography. The most northerly point at which this tree is found is 

 Niagara, near the Falls, in lat. 43°. It abounds along the whole mountainous 

 tract of the Alleghanies, to their termination in Georgia, over a distance of 

 900 miles. It is also common on the Cumberland Mountains, which divide 

 the state of Tennessee. The situations peculiarly adapted to its growth, ac- 

 cording to Michaux, are the declivities of mountains, narrow valleys, and the 

 banks of torrents, where the atmosphere is constantly moist, and where the 

 soil is deep and fertile. " At the distance of 40 or 50 miles from these 

 mountains, either eastward or westward, the cucumber tree is met with only 

 accidentally upon the steep banks of rivers, where the atmosphere is con- 

 stantly refreshed by the evaporation from their surface. We may conclude 

 that this tree is a stranger to all the regions north of the river Hudson, and 

 to all the Atlantic parts of the United States, to the distance of 100, J 50, 

 and 200 miles from the sea; the nature of the soil, and the extreme heat of 

 the chmate in summer, being utterly uncongenial to its growth. It is also 



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