131 
M A G N O L I A. 
magnolia; and / 3 . M. glauca longifolia, or evergreen 
fwamp-magnolia. Both varieties have the leaves ovate- 
oblong, glaucous underneath. Swamp-magnolia ufually 
grows about fifteen or Sixteen feet high, with a (lender 
item, covered with a fmooth whitilh bark. The wood is 
white and fpongy. Leaves thick and fmooth, refembling 
thofe of the ba'y, entire, dark green on their upper fur- 
face, but whitilh or glaucous, and a little hairy, under¬ 
neath. The flowers are produced in May and June at 
the extremity of the branches ; they are white, and have 
an agreeable fweet fcent ; and have only fix concave pe¬ 
tals. After thefe are p'aft, the fruit increafes to the fize 
of a walnut, with its cover an inch or more in length, and 
three fourths of an inch in diameter, of a conical lhape ; 
the feed is about the fize of a kidney-bean. This fruit is 
at fir ft green, afterwards red, and, when ripe, of a brown 
colour." In North America, where it grows naturally in 
low moift or fvvampy ground, there is a fucceflion of flow¬ 
ers on the trees for two months or more; but in Eng¬ 
land there are feldom more than twelve or fourteen flow¬ 
ers on a tree, and thofe of fhort duration. The young 
plants frequently retain their leaves through the greatelt 
part of winter, and often do not fall till the young (hoots 
thruft them oft’; but, when they are three or four years 
old, they conftantly caft their leaves by the beginning of 
November. In the Kew Catalogue, however, the deciduous 
is diftinguiftied from the evergreen fwamp-magnolia. The 
greatelt number of thefe trees, which are now growing in 
England, are at the duke of Norfolk’s, at Workfop, in 
Nottingham(hire. It was cultivated in 1688, being in¬ 
fected by Ray in his catalogue of rare exotic trees and 
(limbs, cultivated in the epifcopal garden at Fulham, 
by bi(hop Compton. In America this tree is known by 
the names of white laurel, J'wamp-fa/afras, and beaver-tree. 
It has the laft name, becaufe the root is eaten as a great 
dainty by beavers ; and this animal is caught by means 
of it. Kalm fays that this tree drops its leaves early in 
autumn, though fome of the young trees keep them all 
the winter. This correfponds with what Mr. Miller af¬ 
firms, as (fated above. Kalm alfo reports, that he has 
feldom found the beaver-tree to the north of Pennfylvania, 
where it begins to flower at the end of May. Thefe trees 
may then be difeovered by the fcent of the blofloms at the 
diftance of three quarters of a mile, if the, wind be favour¬ 
able. It is beyond defeription pleafant to travel in the 
woods at that feafon, efpecially in the evening. They 
retain their flowers about three weeks. The berries alio 
look very handfome when they are ripe, being of a rich* 
red colour, and hanging in bunches on (lender threads. 
They cure coughs and other peCtoral difeafes by putting 
thefe berries into brandy, and giving a draught of the li¬ 
quor every morning ; it is even faid to have falutary ef¬ 
fects in confumptions. A decoction of the bark alfo, or 
an infufion of it in brandy, is faid not only to eafe pec¬ 
toral difeafes, but to be of fervice againlt internal pains 
and heat, and it is thought that it will (lop a dyfentery. 
For a cold they commonly boil the branches in water. 
'The wood is made ufe of for joiners’ planes. 
4. Magnolia confpicua, lily-flowered magnolia, oryou- 
lan : leaves obovate, obtufe with a point, appearing after 
the flowers are over. Suppofed to be a native of China, 
iv he re it has been cultivated for ages, forming a tree thirty 
or forty feet high, with zigzag much-divided branches, at 
the end of each of which, in the early fpring, before any 
leaves appear, ftands an elegant white lily-like flower, 
four inches wide, with fome of the cool lemori-fcent of 
the firft fpecies, at leaft when brought into a warm room. 
The leaves expand in May, and are flexible on (lender 
(talks, of a broad obovate or wedge-like figure, with a 
fmall tip, each three or four inches, or more, in length. 
Sir Jofeph Banks procured this fine plant from China in 
1789. It is hardy in our climate, and is at an early age 
covered with flowers from February to April, though the 
fevere ealt winds of the feafon often injure its beauty, un- 
lefs it be protected by a frame, or planted in a conferva- 
tory. 
5. Magnolia obovata, or purple magnolia : leaves obo¬ 
vate, pointed, appearing with the flowers ; petals oblong, 
bluntifli. Native of China, from whence the late duke 
of Portland is faid to have obtained it in 1790. It is to¬ 
lerably hardy, flowering in May and June, but appears to 
molt advantage in a confervatory. I11 the (hape and ha¬ 
bit of its leaves this agrees much with the laft; but the 
flowers are larger, of a fine purple, darkeft at the outfide, 
and do not appear till the foliage is fully expanded ;.they 
have little or no fcent. 
6. Magnolia tomentofa, or (lender woolly magnolia: 
leaves obovate, pointed, downy beneath, appearing after 
the flowers ; petals fix, oblong, obtufe. Native of Japan 
and China. 
7. Magnolia pumila, or dwarf magnolia ; the fampafa- 
laca, or milk-flower, of the Malays : leaves elliptic-lanceo¬ 
late, pointed, fmooth. Petals lix, obovate, very blunt, 
concave ; flower-ltalk and calyx fmooth, incurved. Na¬ 
tive of China, or of fome of the Eaft-Indian iflands. It 
is cultivated in China, as well as at Batavia and Madras; 
but is never known to produce fruit in any fituation in 
which it has come under the examination of botanifts, fo 
that the genus is by no means certain. It is an humble 
fmooth deciduous (hrub, kept in the greenhoufe, where 
it blooms at various periods during the fummer. The 
foliage has a glaucous tinge, and is wavy, and finely reti¬ 
culated with veins. Flowers terminal, drooping, globofe, 
cream-coloured, fhort-lived, very fragrant at night, molt 
like thofe of M. glauca in fliape, but ftnaller, and with 
more of a greenilh caft. The cells of the antherae are 
clofe together, at the inner fide, and the whole anther is 
club-fliaped and obtufe, very unlike that of the other 
fpecies. 
8. Magnolia fufeata, or brown-ftalked magnolia : leaves 
elliptic-lanceolate, fmooth. Petals fix, elliptical, concave ; 
flower-ftalk ereCt, hairy, as well as the calyx. Native of 
China, from whence it was procured by fir J. Banks, for 
Kew garden, in 1789. It flowers in the greenhoufe from 
April to July. The Item is of humble growth, with brown 
hairy branches. Leaves about three inches long, veiny, 
deciduous except when kept in the ftove. Flowers of a 
dark dull purple, fmelling ftrongly like apples, much 
ftnaller than thofe of M. pumila. 
9. Magnolia acuminata, or blue magnolia : leaves ovate- 
oblong, pointed, downy beneath ; petals more than fix, 
channelled, glaucous. Native of North America from 
Pennfylvania to Carolina, upon the loftielt mountains. 
Mr. Collinfon firft introduced it alive into England, in 
1736. His original tree was lately in fine perfection at 
Mill Hill; but, as the place is now become a fchool, its 
few remaining treafures mull be prefumed to be in great 
jeopardy. This fpecies forms a large umbrageous deci¬ 
duous tree, ivhofe wood is yellow. Leaves cluttered at 
the end of each branch; but on its fubfequent elongation 
becoming alternate, (talked, feveral inches long, and nearly 
half as broad. The flowers appear among the young 
leaves early in June, (landing folitary, each on a (hort 
fmooth (talk, at the end of the branches; they are neither 
fragrant nor beautiful, though remarkable for their pea- 
green very-glaucous petals, which vary in fliape, but are 
always concave, or channelled, and ufually about two 
inches long. The capfule, with its red feeds, hanging 
by long threads out of their cells, is fometimes ripened in 
England. 
10. Magnolia tripetala, or umbrella magnolia.: leaves 
lanceolate ; petals nine; the three outermolt reflexed and 
dependant. Native of Carolina; more rarely of Virginia. 
Miller appears to have had this tree at Chelfea in 1752 ; 
nor is it now uncommon in curious collections. It loves 
a moilt (trong foil. The leaves are deciduous, fmooth, 
light green, ufually eighteen inches long at an early pe¬ 
riod, and finally above two feet, fpreading in the form of 
an umbrella at the end of each branch. Among them, 
early in June, (lands an upright very-large white flower, 
remarkable for the three pendulous outer petals, and , fol¬ 
ks peculiar fcent, which Munchaufen commends, but mod 
people 
