The Gordonias - Family Theaceae

THE GORDONIAS - FAMILY THEACEAE. Genus GORDONIA, Ell, Two very interesting and beautiful species of this genus grow in the South Atlantic States. They are flowering trees that rank in beauty with the magnolias which they resemble. They belong, in fact, to the camellia family, whose flowers are famous in horticulture. The tea plant, Camillia Thea, of commerce, itself a beautiful flowering shrub, is a.member of the family, and a relative of our gordonias.

The Loblolly Bay (Gordonia Lasianthus, Ell.) grows to be a tree of 7o feet in height, with slender, straight trunk and narrow, compact head, in swampy land from tidewater Virginia along the coast to the delta of the Mississippi. It is most frequent in eastern Florida and Georgia. Its leaves are evergreen, leathery and shining, lanceolate in form and serrate on the margins. Its flowers are perfect, with fleshy white petals spreading out like great wild roses often two to three inches across. They begin to bloom in July and continue several weeks. A dry, woody, ovoid capsule succeeds the flower. In it are 2 to 8 square, winged

seeds.

The tree thrives in cultivation, though at best it is short lived. A handsome specimen blossoms freely in the Arnold Arboretum at Boston.

The Franklinia (G. Altamaha, Sarg.) is a tree rarely seen over 15 to 20 feet high now. Its flowers, larger than those of the loblolly. bay, open in September. The leaves resemble those of the other species in form, but are deciduous, and notable for their splendid scarlet in autumn. The fruit is globular and the seeds not winged.

In 1790 William Bartram found this tree growing in groves along the Altamaha River. Specimens were sent to John Bart ram's garden in Philadelphia, and from there were introduced into cultivation. Strangely, no succeeding explorer has ever found the trees growing wild, though careful search has been made to rediscover them. The only specimens known are in gardens, lineal descendants and sole representatives of those Bartram described.