grow until the latter part of July, and it flowers at the 
same time. It may therefore be possible to found on it a 
race of hardy hybrids later in flowering than any now in 
existence, though it is difficult to find other Rhododen- 
drons flowering in July with which it can be crossed. At 
Kew it has been fertilised with pollen from a belated 
f. ponticum, Linn. ; it has also been crossed with the late- 
flowering form of R. decorum, Franch. In the wild state 
the flowers of /?. auriculatum vary, so Wilson states, from 
white to rosy red. They are pleasantly fragrant, their 
odour recalling that of a freshly cut dessert apple. In 
foliage it is perhaps the finest of all Rhododendrons 
hardy in aclimate like that of the Thames valley, though 
in milder districts larger leaves are borne by Himalayan 
species like . Falconeri, Hook. f., and £&. grande, Wight. 
The largest leaves of 2. auriculatum measured have been 
thirteen inches long by five inches across. Though quite 
hardy at Kew, its greater luxuriance in Cornish gardens 
indicates that it prefers rather milder conditions. It 
should be grown in thin woodland or in some other 
position where it is protected from the midday sun. 
Description.—Shrub or, according to Henry, at times a tree 30 ft. high; 
shoots stout, in the first season densely hirsute with very long glandular 
hairs, in the following year pustulate with the remains of the hairs, when 
older, brown and glabrous. Leaves oblong or elliptic-oblong, rounded or 
orbicular, about 13 in. long. Stamens 14, shortly exserted; filaments nearly 
equal in length, glabrous; anthers brownish-yellow, 2 in. long. Ovary 7-8- 
celled, densely beset with glandular hairs; style exserted, glandular towards 
the base, tipped by the 
in. long, over } in. wide, glandular-hairy. 
Tas. 8786.—Fig. 1, base of a young leaf; 2, calyx and istil ; 3, portion of 
corolla tube with corresponding lobe; 4, danany 6 cavies ; 6, transverse 
section of ovary :—all enlarged except 3, which is of natural size, 
