CUCUMBER TREE; MOUNTAIN MAGNOLIA (Magnolia acumi nala, Linn.). 60 to 100 feet. Spreading, pyramidal tree, of small branches and slim twigs with large buds. Bark thin, brown, covered with thin scales. Wood weak, close-grained, yellow-brown, used for flooring and fuel. Leaves oblong, pointed, plain-margined, silky when opening, thin, smooth, yellow-green, pubescent beneath, turning yellow in autumn. Length 6 to 10 inches; width 4 to 6 inches. Petioles 1 to 2 inches. Flowers yellowish-green, bell-shaped, erect on ends of twigs, solitary; sepals 3, reflexed; petals 6, tapering to base; stamens and pistils numerous. Fruit ovate, oftener dis torted, cucumber-like, with seeds in but few follicles; seeds red, hung out on flexible threads. Dist.: Rocky uplands near
streams; Ontario to Illinois, Kentucky, and Arkansas; moun tain slopes of Pennsylvania to Tennessee, Alabama, and Mis sissippi. Planted as an ornamental and shade tree.
The Yellow Cucumber Tree, variety cordata of the preceding species, has broad, heart-shaped leaves, dark and almost evergreen, and bright yellow flowers. It has been cultivated in gardens for a century, and improvement in size and color of the flowers has made the wild prototype seem poor by comparison. It grows on the Blue Ridge foothills of South Carolina and in the wilds of central Alabama.