A R B O R E T U M E T F R U T IC E T U M B R I T A N N I C U M .
36. M ag n ò lia g la ú c a T h om p so n iò n a .
Olher Varietws. M . glaúca Gordoniana and M . glaùca Burchelliàna. are
naines found in nurserymen’s catalogues, o f varieties said to have double or
serai-double flowers. M . g. longifòlia P u rsh is supposed to be an aboriginal
variety, and sub-evergreen ; but we think it probably the same variety
as _M. g. Thorapsonid»a, which may have come up wild in America, as well
as m Ml-. Thompson’s nursery. M . g. Carddmi, M. Cárdon J . Knight, is a
variety imported from Belgium, where it was found by Mr. Knight of
the Exotic Nursery, in the nursery o f M. Cardón, after whom he has
named it.
A low tree, nearly evergreen in moist soils, with a slender stem, covered
with a smooth whitish bark. The wood is white and spongy; the young
shoots o f a fin e green. The leaves are smooth, o f a bluish green on their
u|iper surface, and whitish or glaucous and a little hairy underneath. The
flowers are produced in May or June, a t th e extremity o f the last year’s shoots.
They have six concave white petals, and have an agreeable odour. The
spike or strobile of fruits is an inch or more in length, conical, an inch in
diameter in the widest part, and of a reddish brown colour when ripe. M'lien
the plant is in a soil supplied with moisture during the summer, it continues
to produce flowers till the autumn, and retains p a rt o f its leaves all the winter :
in dry situations the leaves drop off. Seeds are fi'equently ripened in En g land
; they are o f a bright scarlet, and they hang down by slender w'liitc
threads, as in all the other American species. The young shoots are from 1 ft.
to 18 in. in length, and the plant, in ordinary circumstances, will attain the
height o f 12 ft. in ten years. Plants are generally raised from seeds imported
from America, which should be sown in pots o f bog earth about the beginning
o f March, and placed in gentle he at under glass. In a year they will be
fit to transplant into small pots ; and every year they should be shifted into
others o f a larger size, till wanted for final planting out. M. glaúca Thomp-
soróàna, and the othe r varieties, are propagated by layers, which require two
years to root properly.
I l l , M A G N O L / r iV R A ? : M A G N o ' l / A . 2 7
1 3 . M a g n o 'l/a t r i p e ' t a l a L. The three-petaled Magnolia.
whirh are thin, oval, en tire , and acuminate a t both extremities, ISin. or 20m long and 7 i n or
f S " . ” M frhx. 5.' 1 Lodd. B o t. Cab., t. 418. ; th e plate of th is species in Arb. B rit.
1st e d it. vo l. V .; a n d o m fig . 37.
Snec Char &c. Deciduous. L e a v e s l a n c e o l a t e , s p r e a d in g , adult o n e s sm o o t h ,
vonnoer ones pubescent u n de rne ath. P e ta ls 9 - 1 2 , exterior ones pendent.
(Don’s M ill, i. p. 8 3.) A deciduous tre e o f the middle size. _ 1 ennsyl-
( a n ia to Georgia, in moist .soil. Height 30 ft. to 4 0 ft. in America ; 15_ft.
to 30 ft. in England. Introduced iu 1752. Floweus white, 7 in. to 8 m.
in diameter, with an unpleasant odour ; May to July. losecoloured,
4 in. to 5 in, long ; ripe in October. Deeaymg leaves dark biown
or black. Naked young wood o f a fine mahogany brown.
3 7 . M a g n ò lia tr ip é ta la .
This tree, both in America and Europe, is remarkable for the largeness
of its leaves and its flowers. The wood is spong}', brittle, with a large pith,
soft, porous, and o f very little use. The bark upon th e -tru n k is grey,
smooth, and polished ; and, if cut while green, it exhales a disagreeable
odour. In Britain the tree sends up various shoots from the root, to replace
the stems, which are seldom of long duration ; so th a t a plant th a t has stood
thirty or forty years in one spot has had its stems several times renewed during
th a t period. The leaves are 18 or 20 inches long, and 7 or 8 inches broad.
The flowers are 7 or 8 inches in diameter, with large w hite flaccid petals; they are
borne on the extremities o f the last year’s s h o o t s , h a v e a languid luxurious
appearance, and a sweet but heavy odour. The fruit, which is conical, is h o r