5. [Magnolia tripetala] L. Umbrella-tree. Elkwood.
Leaves obovate-lanceolate, narrowed at the ends, acute or bluntly pointed at apex, when they unfold nearly glabrous above, covered below with thick silky caducous tomentum, at maturity membranaceous, glabrous, 18′—20′ long, 8′—10′ wide, with a thick prominent midrib and numerous slender primary veins; falling in the autumn with little change of color; petioles stout, 1′—1½′ in length. Flowers on slender glabrous pedicles covered with a glaucous bloom and 2′—2½′ long, cup-shaped, white; sepals narrowly obovate, 5′—6′ long, 1½′ wide, thin, light green, becoming reflexed; petals 6 or 9, concave, coriaceous, ovate, short-pointed, erect, those of the outer row 4′—5′ long and sometimes 2′ wide, much longer and broader than those of the inner rows; filaments bright purple. Fruit ovoid, glabrous, 2½′—4′ long, rose color when fully ripe; seeds obovoid, ½′ long.
A tree, 30°—40° high, with a straight or often inclining trunk rarely more than 18′ in diameter, stout irregularly developed contorted branches wide-spreading nearly at right angles with the stem or turning up toward the ends and growing parallel with it, and stout brittle branchlets green during their first season, becoming in their first winter bright reddish brown, very lustrous, and marked by occasional minute scattered pale lenticels, and by the large oval horizontal slightly raised leaf-scars with scattered fibro-vascular bundle-scars, brown during their second and gray during their third season; generally much smaller, sometimes surrounded by several stems springing from near the base of the trunk and growing into a large bush surmounted by the head of the central stem. Winter-buds: terminal, acute or bluntly pointed, purple, glabrous, covered with a glaucous bloom, usually about 1′ long; axillary globose, the color of the branch. Bark ½′ thick, light gray, smooth, and marked by many small bristle-like excrescences. Wood light, soft, close-grained, not strong, light brown, with creamy white sapwood of 35—40 layers of annual growth.
Distribution. Deep rather moist rich soil along the banks of mountain streams or the margins of swamps, and widely distributed in the Appalachian Mountain region, but nowhere very common; valley of the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania (Lancaster and York Counties), to southern Alabama, middle Kentucky and Tennessee, and northeastern Mississippi; in central and southwestern Arkansas; and in southeastern Oklahoma (near Page, Le Flore County, G. W. Stevens), extending in Virginia and North Carolina nearly to the coast; of its largest size in the valleys along the western slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee up to altitudes of 2000°.
Often cultivated as an ornamental tree in the northern states, and in northern and central Europe.
6. [Magnolia macrophylla] Michx. Large-leaved Cucumber-tree.
Leaves obovate or oblong, acute or often abruptly narrowed and acute or rounded at apex, narrowed and cordate at base, bright green and glabrous on the upper surface, silvery gray and pubescent, especially along the stout midrib and primary veins on the lower surface, 20′—30′ long, 9′—10′ wide; falling in the autumn with little change of color; petioles stout, 3′—4′ in length, at first tomentose, becoming pubescent. Flowers on stout hoary-tomentose pedicels 1′—1½′ long, soon becoming glabrous or puberulous, cup-shaped, fragrant, 10′—12′ across; sepals membranaceous, ovate or oblong, rounded at apex, much narrower than the 6 ovate concave thick creamy white petals with a rose colored blotch at base, 6′—7′ long and 3′—4′ wide, at maturity reflexed above the middle, those of the inner row narrower and often somewhat acuminate. Fruit ovoid to nearly globose, pubescent, 2½′—3′ long, bright rose color when fully ripe; seeds obovoid, compressed, ⅔′ long.
A tree, 30°—50° high, with a straight trunk 18′—20′ in diameter, stout wide-spreading branches forming a broad symmetrical round-topped head, and stout brittle branchlets hoary-tomentose when they first appear, light yellow-green, pubescent, and conspicuously marked during their first winter by the large irregularly shaped sometimes longitudinal slightly raised leaf-scars with many scattered fibro-vascular bundle-scars, turning reddish brown during their second and gray during their third season. Winter-buds: terminal, bluntly pointed, covered with a thick coat of snowy white tomentum, 1¾′—2′ long, ½′—¾′ thick; lateral, much flattened, brownish, pubescent, ⅛′—¼′ long. Bark generally less than ¼′ thick, smooth, light gray, divided on the surface into minute scales. Wood hard, close-grained, light, not strong, light brown, with thick light yellow sapwood of about 40 layers of annual growth.