98 Rhodora [JUNE 
The Rhododendron generally known as R. punctatum, was discovered 
in 1788 by Michaux on the banks of the Savannah River and in 1792 
briefly described under the name R. minus (in Jour. d’Hist. Nat. 
I. 412) in the following words: “Rhododendron minus, foliis minoribus 
ellipticis petiolatis subferrugineis. Se trouve sur les rives de la rivière 
de Savannah." "Though the description is rather short, the species 
is sufficiently characterized, particularly by the description of the 
leaves as subferrugineous, since the two other species of the Atlantic 
States known to Michaux, R. maximum and R. catawbiense, have 
perfectly glabrous foliage. "There can be, therefore, hardly any doubt 
what Michaux meant, and his name being six years older than Andrews' 
R. punctatum based on cultivated specimens introduced about 1786 
by John Fraser, must be considered the valid name for this species. 
Both names refer to the same form, namely to the form of the lower 
altitudes; for this is the form represented by the plate accompanying 
Andrews' description, and in regard to Michaux's species the locality 
quoted with the first description leaves no doubt. The identity of 
the two species is also confirmed by Michaux's original specimens 
which I had the opportunity of examining last year; of the three sheets 
two are without labels and one has two labels; all contain the form 
of the lower altitudes, partly in flowering specimens, and only the 
sheet with two labels contains besides these specimens two branchlets 
of the form of the higher mountains in fruit; to these two specimens 
belongs apparently the label reading “hautes montagnes de Caroline 
septentrionale" while the label reading “aux sources de la riviére 
Savannah" belongs to the other specimens and corresponds to the 
locality given in the first description: in his Flora he quotes both 
localities, but the description is based also here chiefly on the form 
from the lower level, as he had no flowering material of the other 
shrub. 
The first to recognize the form of the higher mountains as distinct 
was Ker when he figured it in 1815 as Rhododendron punctatum B 
in the Botanical Register. He states there that it was only lately 
introduced from North Carolina by John Fraser who also had intro- 
duced the typical R. punctatum. This form, however, seems to have 
been subsequently lost to cultivation, as it is never mentioned again 
in horticultural or botanical literature. All later references and 
descriptions apply only to the other form, until in 1902 Small dis- 
tinguished the two forms as species, but unfortunately he identified 
