CHAP. JIl. 



MAGT^iOLIJCE^. MAGNO'L/^. 



283 



sale as a flowering shrub, but as a stock for grafting other species on, even 

 of the tree kinds : such as M. conspicua, cordata, and others. In the north 

 of France, and in Germany, it is generally treated as a green-house plant. 



Soil and Situation. This species is generally considered as requiring a mix- 

 ture of heath soil, or sandy peat, with loam ; but in many gardens about 

 London it succeeds perfectly both in sand and clay ; the latter soil being 

 rendered free by sand, leaf mould, or manure, and drainage. The situation, 

 when the plant is treated as a bush, ought to be open, in order that the wood 

 may be ripened ; and the plant should be detached, it order that it may be 

 covered with foliage and blossoms on every side. North of London, in most 

 situations, it requires a wall, and few plants are more deserving of one. 

 Against a wall, it will reach the height of 15 ft. or 20 ft. 



Propagation and Culture. In the London nurseries, it is generally propa- 

 gated by layers ; but it will also strike by cuttings, both of the ripened and 

 the herbaceous wood. The stools are generally formed in pits ; or, if in 

 the open ground, they are generally covered with mats during winter. Seeds 

 have been ripened both in England and France; and from these plants have 

 been raised in some few nurseries. The plants, whether raised from layers, 

 cuttings, or seed, should always be kept in pots till wanted for final planting. 



Statistics, There are fine plants of this species, trained against walls, at 

 Harringay, Wormleybury, White Knights, and numerous other places. 

 The largest bushes in the neighbourhood of London are in the Mile End 

 Nursery ; and there are very handsome specimens in the Hammersmith Nur- 

 sery. There is one 20 ft. high in the garden of the Rev. J. Mitford, at Benwell 

 in Suffolk, which, we believe, is the largest in England. Price, in London, 

 from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. a plant ; at BoUwyller, 5 francs ; in New York, ?. . 



^ 1 L M. (■? p.) gra'cilis. The slender-grozwKg p^rple-Jiowered Magnolia. 



S/pwnymes. Magnblm Kbbus Kampf., Dec, and Don. j M. glauca var. a Thun. Fl. Jap. ; M. to- 

 ' mcntbsa Thun. in Linn. Soc. ; Sidi Kobiisi, Japanese ; Magnolier grhle, Fr. ; filziger Bieber. 

 baum, Ger. 



Derivations, Kobus, or Sidi Kobusi, is the name of the plant in Japan. It is named gracilis from its 

 slender habit of growth ; asid tomentbsa from the comparatively downy surface of the leaves. It 

 was called M. glauca by Thunberg, because he originally supposed it to be a variety of the M. glatica 

 of North America. The French and German names signify the same as the specific one. 



Engravings. Kaimpf Ic, t. 42. ; Par. Lor ., 87. ; E. of PI., 7909. 



Description. In its native country it is a small tree with rough bark ; but 

 in England it is a somewhat delicate shrub, with slender stems and branches, 

 growing rather more erect and fastigiate than M. purpilrea. The leaves are of 

 the same form, but a little longer, and always of a decidedly paler green. 

 The young leaves are pubescent underneath, as are the young shoots. In 

 England, though this kind cannot be considered as a tree, yet it has a 

 different habit of growth from M. purpurea; and, instead of, hkeit, forming 

 a broad spreading bush, it is a narrow, upright, slender, fastigiate-growing 

 one. The bark has the same odour as that of M. purpurea. The two main 

 points of difference between it and M. purpurea are, the paler green, and 

 somewhat narrower shape, of the leaves ; and the longer and more slender 

 form of the flower, the points of the petals of which are slightly turned 

 back ; while the flower of M. purpurea is more cup-shaped, and the petals at 

 the points are rather turned inwards. The petals of M. gracilis are exteriorly 

 of an entirely dark purple, whereas those of M. purpurea melt off into white 

 at their upper extremities. 



Geograj)tiy, History^ ^c. It is a native of Japan, where it is said by 

 Kaimpfer to attain the size of a cherry tree. It was brought to England in 

 1804, but is not very common, probably from its being very generally con- 

 founded with M. purpurea. Its management, in all respects, is the same as 

 that of the species, except that it is, perhaps, somewhat more tender. 

 The largest plant that we know of is in the conservatory at White Knights, 

 where it forms a narrow bush about 10 ft. high. It is kept in the conser- 

 vatory there, not on account of its tenderness, but because it was considered 

 to be a conservatory plant when it was fii'st planted ; and it is now much too 



