18 
LARGE-LEAVED UMBRELLA TREE. 
North Carolina, 10 miles south of Lincolnton, and 250 miles from Charles- 
ton. Our extensive researches in quest of it in the upper part of the 
Southern States, and those subsequently made by several English botanists 
east of the Alleghanies, which were alike unsuccessful, sufficiently prove 
that it is extremely rare between the mountains and the sea. West of the 
range, in Tennessee, it is more common, but even here only a few trees 
are found together, at intervals of 40 or 50 miles ; as I had an opportunity 
of observing during, my journey in the Western States in 1803. 
The Large-Leaved Umbrella Tree, like the Umbrella Tree, on which it 
is a constant attendant, delights in cool situations sheltered from the wind, 
where the soil is deep and fertile. In its general' appearance, and in the 
terminal arrangement of its leaves, ' it most nearly resembles the species 
just mentioned ; in the conformation of the inferior surface of the leaf, it 
is more like the Long-leaved Cucumber Tree. It forms also a mean be- 
tween these two species by its size, which does not exceed 35 feet in 
height, and 4 or 5 inches in diameter. The body of the tree is covered 
with a smooth and very white bark, by which in the winter, when stript of 
its leaves, it is readily distinguished from the Umbrella Tree. At this sea- 
son it differs also from the Umbrella Tree in its buds, which are compressed 
instead of being rounded at the end, and which are covered with a soft 
and silvery down. 
Of all this genus, the Large-leaved Umbrella Tree is the species which 
bears the largest leaves : some of them are 35 inches long and 9 or 10 
inches broad. They are borne, on petioles, short in comparison with the 
. size of the leaves, and are of an oblong-oval shape, pointed at the extremity, 
and cordiform at the base : their color is light green above, and glaucous 
beneath : they fall in the autumn and re-appear early in the spring. The 
flowers are white and larger than those of any other species of Magnolia, 
for when fully blown they are sometimes 8 or 9 inches in diameter : they 
are composed of 6 petals, longer and broader than those of the Umbrella 
Tree. Within the flower, near the bottom of the petals, is a purple spot 7 
or 8 lines in diameter. The flowers diffuse a fragrant odor, and their 
beauty is heightened by the luxuriant foliage which surrounds them. 
The cones are about 4 inches long, nearly cylindrical, and of a vivid 
rose color when arrived at maturity. In the arrangement of the cells and 
of the seeds, they reserüble those of the Umbrella Tree and of the Long- 
leaved Cucumber Tree ; it should be remarked, however, that they are 
destitute of the appendages visible on the fruit of the last mentioned spe- 
cies, especially when it is dry. 
The seeds of the Large-leaved Umbrella Tree require, in order to pre- 
serve their power of germination, the same attention with those of the 
preceding species. 
The wood of this tree is softer and more porous than that of the Um- 
