is locally plentiful, forming dense dwarf thickets. So far 

 as may be judged from its behaviour in cultivation, 

 R. Hanceanum is quite hardy. It thrives well in a peaty 

 soil or in sandy loam with leaf -mould, and flowers in 

 March or April, according to the season. Among the 

 forms grown in gardens as R. Hanceanum is one treated 

 by Render and Wilson as belonging to the type, which 

 has smaller leaves than in the Mt. Omei plant, more 

 obovate and rounded at the tip; the style in this is 

 slightly hairy at the base. This form appears at least 

 a well-marked variety ; with fuller material it may even 

 prove a distinct species. 



Description. — Shrub, dwarf or up to 3 ft. high ; twigs 

 short, dark punctate, ultimately longitudinally warted, 

 leafy towards the top. Leaves ovate-lanceolate or elliptic- 

 lanceolate, base very blunt or rounded, tip gradually 

 acutely acuminate, lf-3 in. long, f-l-i in. wide, firmly 

 coriaceous, above green, dark punctate with sunk vena- 

 tion, pale and finely lepidote beneath ; midrib impressed 

 above, raised beneath ; lateral nerves 8-9 along each 

 side, distinctly looped, rather raised on both surfaces ; 

 petiole about { in. long, stout. Inflorescence shortly 

 racemose, 6-9-flowered ; bud-scales oblong-ovate, acutely 

 acuminate, about J in. long and \ in. wide, reddish, 

 glabrous; bracts linear-spathulate, about § in. long, 

 cihate upwards ; pedicels \ in. long, glandular-lepidote. 

 Flowers yellowish-white. Calyx 5-lobed; lobes oblong, 

 rounded at the tip, J-J in. long, T V- T V in. wide, mem- 

 branous, margin lepidote or ciliate. Corolla tubular, 

 5-lobed ; tube J-§ in. long, glabrous ; lobes ovate-oblong, 

 rounded at the tip, about -} in. long. Stamens 10, far 

 exserted ; filaments very unequal, the longest about 1| in. 

 long pilose below ; anthers carmine, | in. long. Ovary 

 5-celled, cylindric, densely lepidote, style as long as the 

 hlaments, slender, glabrous ; stigma capitate, T V in. wide. 

 -Pruit m. long, closely lepidote, encompassed by the 

 persistent calyx and tipped by the persistent style-base. 



sam/'i £ P i B "T ace , ° f leaf 8h <™ g the black spots ; 2, lower surface of 

 Si™'- ? J g r? eS; 3 ' cal y x and P istil >- 4, enlarged ovary and part of 

 calyx , 5, stamens ; 6, transverse section of ovary -.-all enlarged. 



