2 4 A IU SÜ U IC T UM E T F R U T IC E T U M B R I T A N N I C U M .
IS quite distinct from that o f all the oth e r varieties. Th e species sold in
the nurseries as the common hroad-leaved Magnòlia grandiflòra is fre-
qiien tlj raised Iroin Aiiiencan, F rench, or Italian seeds ; and hence the
p ants, though they grow freely, do not flower for 20 o r 30 years after beine
planted out. F o r this reason, when it is desired to have plants o f the
Magiioha grandiflora which will flower early, those plants wiiicli have been
uiised by layers from flowering trees ought to have the preference • or the
Fxiiiouth, o r some othe r variety, should he made choice of, because the
varieties are always raised from layers. uecause tne
In its native country, _M. grandiflòra is a tre e varying from 60 ft to
S e r i n a n d m Europe, except in some situations in
c ifn s h ie reL s a w a n 'te e . ‘ to be
34. JVIiigiioIia g ran d iflò ra .
A deep sandy loam, dry a t bottom, and enriched witli vegetable mould or
heath soil, seems to suit all the varieties o f this species. When these are
'™"®t’j ' g “ nst a wall, any aspect may be chosen, except, perhaps, the
north-east. To display the flowers to the greatest advantage, to a spectator
walking in a direction nearly parallel to th e wall, the ground plan o f the
la tte r should be curvilinear, by which means a direct o r front view o f a
considerable portion would be brought before him. In the London nurseries,
propagation is generally eftfected by forming stools either in warm
wtiiations in the open air, to be protected during winter, or in coid-pits.
llm shoots are laid down in autumn, and require two years to become
sufficiently rooted for separation ; they are tlien potted, and k e p t in pits
or under glass during winter, and set in the open air, in a shady place
during summer till wanted for final planting. M. grandiflòra is also occa-’
f X ®®®ds. In planting, tbe ball should be carefully
broken b^y the hand, and the roots spread o ut in every direction, and
covered with heath niomc, or a mixture o f leaf mould and sandy loam. The
soil ought to be made firm to th e fibrous roots, n ot by treading, but by
abimdaiit watering, and, if tlie plant be large, by fixing with water ; th a t is,
while the earth is being carefully p ut about the roots by one man, another
should pour water from a pot held 6 ft. or 8 ft. above it, so th a t the weight
o f the water may «ash the soil into every crevice formed by the roots,
and consolidate it there. Shading will be advisable for some weeks after
[ilantiiig. If the Exiiiouth variety be chosen, layers will produce flowers in a
year or two after being separated from the parent plant, if kept in p o ts ; but,
when they are planted"out, and grow freely, so as to make shoots o f 2 or 3
feet every season, they will probably not flower for th re e or four years.
Whether the tree be against a wall or trellis, or treated as a standard, all the
pruning it will require, after it has begun to grow freely, will be, to cut out
the stumps from which the flowers or th e strobiles have dropped off, and
any dead or decaying wood, and any branches which cross and rub on each
other. Magnolias against a wall require very little protection, even when
young ; and" this can easily be given by mulching the ground a t th e roots, and
covering their branches with a mat, or with the fronds o f the spruce fir.
H 2. M. GLAU 'cA L. The glaucous-Aavcd Magnolia.
Identification. Lin. Sp., 2. p. 7.55. ; T o r. and Gray, 1. p. 42. ; Dec. P rod., 1. p. 80. ; D o n ’s Mill.,
Si/nonymes. M. fràgrans Salisb. ; Swamp Sassafras, Beaver-wood, white Bay, small Magnolia.
Swamp Magnolia ; Magnolie giauque, Arbre de Castor, Fr. ; g ra u e r Bieberbaum, Ger.
Dei-ivation. It is named Swamp Sassafras ou account of its growing in boggy places, and resembling
in qualities th e L au ru s S a ssafras; an d Beaver-wood, b ecause the ro o t is eaten as a g re a t dainty by
the beavers, and these animals are cau g h t by m eans of it. It also grows in the swamjis, w hich they
inhabit ; and Michaux tells us th a t it is felled by th em for construc ting th e ir dens an d houses, in
preference to any o th er tree , on account of th e softness of th e wood.
Engravings. Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 216. ; Sims Bot. Mag., 2164. ; th e plate of th is species in Arb.
llrit., 1st edit. vol. v. ; and our fig . 35.
Spec. Char., <§-». Almost deciduous. Leaves elliptical, obtuse, under surface
glaucous. Flower 9— 12-petaled, contracted. P e ta ls ovate, concave. (Don’s
Milt.) A shrub, or low tree, sometimes sub-evergreen. Massachusetts to
Missouri in swamps. Height in America 3 ft. to 10 f t .; 6 ft. to 20 ft. iii
England. Introduced in 1688. Flowers white, 2 in. to 3 in. broad, very
fragrant ; Ju n e and September. Strobile brownish. Seeds deep scarlet ;
ripe in October. Decaying leaves yellow, brown, or black. Naked young
wood green.
1% .
55- Mag n d ltd g la ilc a.
¡Varieties.
’Í M . glaúca 2 sempervirins H o rt. — Sub-evergreen, and with smaller
leaves than those of th e next variety.
H M . glauca 3 Thompsomaaa Thomp. M. glaúca var. a major Bot. Mag.,
new edition, p. 36. Th e plate o f this in the Arb. Brit., first edition,
vol. v.; and our Jig. 3 6 .— I t was noticed about 1820, in a pot o f seedlings,
by Mr. Thompson, in his niir.sery a t Mile-end ; and by him kept
distinct, iiiid propagated under the above name.