52 
The Garden Magazine, March, 1920 
of doors in northern latitudes. But it is worth a journey to 
Louisiana to see this tree luxuriating “on its native heath” 
where it is sometimes 100 ft. tall and 12 ft. in girth of trunk. 
It has many relatively short, spreading branches which form 
a bell-shaped crown. The leaves are of good size, glossy green 
above, gray to rust-red on the under side. The flowers are 
cup-shaped, full 8 inches across, white fading to cream with a 
rather heavy spicy odor. 
Like other American Magnolias it was early introduced to 
Europe; it was in England in 1737 but is only properly hardy 
in the most favored parts of that country. It is one of the 
few American trees introduced to the Orient. In the Public 
Garden, Shanghai, there are several shapely trees and in 
Japan it grows well in Yokohama, Tokyo, and places to the 
south. In Europe a great many seedling forms have appeared 
differing in trivial characters, chiefly those of the leaf. The 
most marked are varieties angustifolia, ferruginea, lanceolata, 
and obovata. 
Asiatic Species Flowering Before the Leaf 
T HE Asiatic Magnolias, or rather the few hardy Asiatic 
species which open their blossoms before the leaves unfold, 
are now-a-days the most popular members of the family and are 
the most conspicuous of spring-flowering plants. Two of these 
are great favorites with the flower-loving peoples of China 
and Japan, and one — the Yulan — is known to have been cul- 
tivated in China for more than thirteen centuries. Its flower 
is regarded as a symbol of candor and in paintings, porcelains 
and embroideries it has been portrayed by all the best 
oriental artists. 
The typical white-flowered Yulan (M. denudata, more gen- 
erally known as M. conspicua) was introduced by Sir Joseph 
Banks from China into England in 1789. It grows wild in 
moist woods in the central parts of China, though this fact has 
only recently been made known. This form, however, is rare 
in a wild state and that most usually found has rosy or reddish 
pink flowers and is very like the M. Soulangeana of gardens. 
The colored variety has likewise been long cultivated in China 
and Japan; in the latter country it is known as “ Sarasa-renge” 
and in Japanese nursery catalogues as “M. obovata var. 
discolor”; correctly it should be M. denudata var. purpur- 
ascens. In 1900 1 introduced this variety by means of seeds 
collected from wild trees in central China, and these plants are 
now flowering in England. However, 1 strongly suspect that 
•it has been growing in western gardens for a much longer period, 
under some other name and identity obscured. 
Both the white and colored varieties of the Yulan are hand- 
some trees 50 feet tall, with a trunk 8 ft. in girth, and ascend- 
ing and spreading branches. Such trees 1 have seen in the 
forest of central China laden with thousands of flowers, and 
the spectacle they presented will never be forgotten. In the 
gardens of eastern North America examples of the white 
Yulan from 20 to 25 ft. tall are known and it is a deservedly 
popular tree. In regard to this Magnolia and also the one 
next mentioned, a point worthy of remembrance is that they 
have been propagated vegetatively by layering and grafting 
for we know not how many centuries. This does not appear 
to have impaired their constitution and accounts for plants less 
than a yard high flowering profusely. 
Garden Forms 
L ESS hardy than the Yulan but a great favorite in gardens 
_> south of Philadelphia is the Purple-flowered Yulan 
commonly know as M. obovata, M. purpurea or M. discolor 
but correctly as M. liliflora. It was introduced from China into 
England in 1790 by the Duke of Portland but has not .yet been 
discovered in a wild state. It appears to be always a shrub 
and its handsome flowers vary somewhat in color, the finest 
being a rich wine-red. Under cultivation in Europe several 
hybrids between M. denudata and M. liliflora have originated 
and have proved themselves hardier and even better garden 
plants than their parents. The oldest and best known of these 
hybrids is M. Soulangeana, which originated near Paris. It is 
a vigorous growing tree with flowers suffused with rose color. 
Many fine examples grow in this country and at Hampton, 
near Baltimore, Maryland, there is a specimen with a trunk 8 
ft. in girth. Very similar to this are forms known in gardens 
as M. speciosa, M. superba, M. cyathiformis, M. Alexandria, 
M. spectabilis and M. triumphans. 
Quite distinct is Magnolia Lennei, with its large blossoms, the 
outside of the petals of which are port-wine color at the base, 
and rich crimson toward the tips. This is a late-flowering kind 
and originated as a seedling in Italy. It is regarded as a nat- 
ural hybrid of the two Yulans. But perhaps the finest of all 
these hybrids is that known as M. rustica rubra with large, 
cherry-rose-red flowers each petal of which is edged with white. 
It is a chance seedling supposed to be from M. Lennei and 
originated in a nursery in Boskoop, Holland, some twenty-five 
years ago. [See cover illustration which is a reproduction of a 
painting by Moon, appearing originally in Robinson’s Flora 
and Sylva . — Ed.] 
The Japanese M. kobus is common in the forests throughout 
the greater part of Japan. The southern and typical form is 
a large bush or low tree, but the northern form (var. borealis) 
is a fine tree from 60 to 75 ft. tall, broad pyramidal in outline 
with a smooth trunk 6 ft. in girth. This variety is the most 
northern of all Magnolias and was introduced into this country 
by Mr. W. S. Clark in 1876 and later sent to Europe. It has 
proved to be the most free-growing of its group, and trees 
raised from the original seeds are now 35 ft. tall with broad py- 
ramidate crowns. It first produced flowers in the garden of 
Professor Sargent, Brookline, Mass., in April, 1899. The blos- 
soms are pure white, cup-shaped and smaller than those of the 
Yulan. On young trees the flowers were sparse but with age it 
has proved to be as floriferous as any other Magnolia. 
The first of all Magnolias to open its flowers each spring is the 
lovely M. stellata, to my mind the most charming of all. It is 
always a shapely broad shrub from 10 to 15 ft. high and more in 
diameter; the star-shaped, snowy blossoms are smaller than 
those of other species but are produced in such profusion as to 
cover the bush with white. We owe this Magnolia, one of the 
most beautiful and most satisfactory of hardy spring-flowering 
shrubs, to Dr. George R. Hall who brought it from Japan in 1862 
and gave it to Mr. S. B. Parsons, Flushing, Long Island. It 
was distributed as M. Halleana and it is a pity that the rule of 
priority prevents the use of this name which would so worthily 
commemorate its introducer. In addition to the type there is a 
pink-flowered form (var. rosea) which makes a delightful com- 
panion. 
There are in Europe several other Asiatic Magnolias which 
flower before the leaves, but only two of them (M. Campbellii 
and M. salicifolia) have so far borne blossoms. The first 
named is native of the outer Himalayas at an altitude be- 
tween 8,000 and 10,000 feet, and in flower is one of the most 
gorgeous of all Northern trees. It has scented, cup-shaped 
blossoms from deep rose to crimson in color and 10 inches 
across. It has not proved hardy in Europe save in one or 
two favored places in England where it has produced deep 
rose-pink flowers. In this country 1 have not heard of anyone 
succeeding with it, though in the South and on the Pacific Slope 
there are places where it should thrive. Certainly such a strik- 
ingly beautiful tree ought to be given a fair trial. Rivalling 
this Himalayan treasure, however, is M.Sargentiana, which ldis- 
