SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA (Evergreen Magnolia)
(Magnolia grandiflora)
THE magnolia, or evergreen magnolia, is one of the well known trees in the State. No other in our forest excels it in the combined beauty of the leaves and the flowers. Occurring naturally in the rich hammock soils and on the border of river swamps and pine-barren ponds, it has been widely cultivated for its ornamental value. In its natural habitat, it attains heights generally of 60 to 80 feet and
diameters of the trunk up to four feet. The dense pyramidal head, or crown, is made up of numerous small spreading branches and branchlets. Its range is over the State as far south in the peninsula as DeSoto County.
The bark is gray to light brown. The leaves are evergreen, thick, leathery, elliptical or oval, dark green and shiny above, rusty or silvery beneath, and mostly from five to eight inches long and two to three inches wide, with prominent midribs. They remain on the tree for about two years.
The large handsome flowers appear at intervals during the summer. They are very attractive with their large pure white petals surrounding a splash of bright purple in the center (from the stamens) and their pleasing fragrance. The "sweet magnolia" of the South well deserves the place given it in story and song. The fruit consists of a rounded or oval head from three to four inches long containing many seed, each enclosed in a sheath. These open and display the bright red "berries" dangling on slender threads.
The wood is moderately heavy and hard, and of a creamy color. It is used somewhat for ornamental purposes, and considerably as firewood.
BIGLEAF MAGNOLIA
(White Cucumber Tree)
(Magnolia macrophylla)
AS the name indicates, this is a magnolia with extra-ordinarily large leaves, and one rarely passes such a tree without it coming to one's attention. The tree is medium sized, reaching a height of 30 to 40 feet, with a straight trunk up to 12 to 16 inches in diameter, ending in stout, noticeably wide-spreading branches, forming a broad, rounded top. The branchlets are brittle, yellow-green
the first season, and plainly marked with the scars of the leaves that fall during the autumn. The tree is sparsely found over western and middle Florida in good soils with plenty of moisture.
The most conspicuous part of the tree, the leaves, are from 20 to 30 inches in length, eight to 10 inches wide, oblong or pear-shaped, narrower near the base and there rounded or heart-shaped. They are bright green and smooth on the upper surface, light gray downy beneath, particularly along the large midrib and principal veins.
The flowers are large--nine to 12 inches across--borne on strong short stems, and fragrant. There are six creamy-white petals, each marked with a rose-colored spot near the base, and plainly in two series with three petals in each row. The fruit is similar to that of the other magnolias, generally rounded, hairy, two to three inches long, and bright rose color when ripe. Each of the parts of the fruit contains a red flattened seed suspended by a thin thread or filament.
The wood is hard but rather weak and light, close-grained, light brown, surrounded by a wide band of light yellow sapwood.
REDBAY PERSEA (Red Bay)
(Persea borbonia)
THIS native of the southeastern United States is one of a large number found in the two American continents. One of these from the Antilles is the avocado, or alligator pear.
The red bay is a tree up to 70 feet in height and three feet in diameter, with a well-shaped head of erect, stout, dark green branches. It grows in moist rich soils along the streams and in swamps, and sometimes in drier soils along with pines, over the coastal region except below Bay Biscayne and Cape Romano.
The leaves are oblong, smooth on the margin, thick or leathery, up to four inches in length and one and one-half inches in width, bright green with a narrow orange-colored midrib. They remain green over the first winter. The flowers are in small clusters and yellowish white.
The fruit is a nearly round, rather fleshy berry, ripening in the autumn and about one-half inch in length. It is dark blue or nearly black and shiny, and contains a large rounded seed.
The wood is heavy, hard, strong, bright red, with thin, lighter colored sapwood. It is used for cabinet-making and interior house finish, and has been used for building boats. Many of the other members of this Laurel family of trees yield handsome, dark, hard wood of value in cabinet work.
SWEETBAY (White or Sweet Bay)
(Magnolia virginiana)
SWEET BAY, or white bay, is a small slender tree with gray branches attaining heights of 15 to 30 feet depending upon the soil conditions. It is found on low, moist or wet lands, and on hammocks throughout nearly all of Florida. It grows from Massachusetts to Texas. It sprouts up freely after fires and sometimes forms thickets. The northern variety is often cultivated as a garden plant in this country and in Europe.
The leaves are simple, oval, pale green above and white beneath, persisting on the branches till spring, especially in the Piedmont. The winter buds are thickly covered with fine hairs.
The fragrant flowers, with nine to 12 pure white petals on slender smooth stems measure from two to three inches across. They continue to open during several weeks in the spring and early summer. The fruit cluster, or "cone," is oval in shape, dark red, smooth, about two inches long by one-half an inch broad, and contains scarlet seeds which are variably oval and much flattened, about one-quarter of an Inch long.
The wood is soft, light brown tinged with red, with cream-white sapwood. The tree is usually too small for the wood to be of much commercial importance, although it is sometimes used along with gum for woodenware and for making paper pulp.
LOBLOLLYBAY G0RDONIA
(Gordonia lasianthus)
THE loblolly bay is botanically related to the tea plant of Asia. It is a comparatively short-lived tree, up to 70 feet in height with a tall straight trunk reaching a diameter of 20 inches, with a narrow compact head of spreading branchlets. In the United States this tree is found from Virginia to the Mississippi river, and in Florida in swamps and hammocks over the State except the lower Peninsula.
The leaves are four to six inches long by one to two inches broad, leathery, dark green, smooth and shiny, broader near the outer end, and toothed or wavy on the margin. They turn scarlet in the fall and drop gradually during the next year.
The flowers are fragrant, white, about two to three inches across, opening in midsummer during a period of several weeks. They are borne singly on rather long, stout, red flower-stalks, springing from the axils of the leaves. The petals are rounded and silky on their lower sides. The fruit it oval, pointed, hard or woody, downy coated, about three-quarters inch long by one-half inch in diameter, and splits into five cells, or parts, each bearing from two to eight hard, winged four-sided seeds.
The wood is soft and light, red, and not durable in contact with the soil. It is sometimes used in cabinet-making.
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