90 
ON THE MAGANOLIA GRANDIFLORA. 
is always pyramidal or semi-elliptical. From May to August, 
in favorable situations, it is almost always covered with its 
brilliant white flowers, terminating the young branches. 
The petals are large, oval or obovate, abruptly narrowed at 
the base, concave, coriaceous, of a brilliant white, but becom- 
ing instantly ferruginous when scratched or bruised. Sta- 
mens very numerous, imbricate, much shorter than the corolla. 
Germs superior, aggregated on an oblong receptacle. Style 
short, recurved. Capsules sitting on the receptacle, imbri- 
cated, splitting longitudinally. Seed one or two in each 
capsule, covered with a scarlet pulp ; hanging for a few days 
after they quit the capsule, by a thread attached to their 
base. 
Habitat, — This tree appears to grow in rich light soils, 
snd is very common all along the sea coast of Georgia and 
Carolina. In Georgia it extends higher up the country, being 
found in the neighborhood of Milledgeville, and in Alabama 
I found it growing plentifully as high as Fort Jackson. (Bota- 
ny of South Carolina and Georgia.) 
It grows abundantly in Mississippi, f Michaux says, " It is 
found only in cool and shady situations, where the soil is 
composed of brown mould, loose, deep and fertile." Such 
soil is found principally on the borders of the great swamps 
caused by the overflow of the rivers j and so much is it con- 
fined to this characterized soil, that the planters in that sec- 
tion of the country, in selecting land, place great confidence 
in this evidence of its fertility. 
Properties. — The trunk of this species of Magnolia is 
covered with a smooth grayish bark, resembling that of 
the beech. The inner bark is fibrous, and appears to be form- 
ed of layers easily separable. It possesses a peculiar and in- 
tensely bitter taste. The external portion of the bark is 
much less fibrous and less strongly impregnated with the pe- 
culiar bitterness than the internal layers, which is, undoubt- 
edly, due to age and exposure. In the older trees this ex- 
ternal part gradually exfoliates in spots, causing an irregularity 
on the surface of the bark. 
