360 RIIODOIIKNORON MAXIMUM. 



len of the Rhot-locloiulroii maximum. The flowers of this variety arc very Ira- 

 graiit. whicli (ircumsiaiiee alone, entitles it to a place in collections. 



3. R. M. muri itKiM, I<oudon. Purplc-Jlowcrcd Rose Ildij-lrti-. This variety, 

 whicli has lar^e purple flowers, grows to an immense size, its stem being often 

 found eighteen inches in diameter, and its foliage triple the size of that of any 

 other species. It is a native of Virginia and Carolina, on the highest mountains, 

 near laU(^s, where it forms a large shrub, or low tree, growing to the height of 

 twenty-five feet, flowering in the months of May and June. 



Gdiirntjifnj, S,'i'. The Rhododendron maximum is found on Ijong Island, and 

 on the hanks of the Hudson below the Jlighlands, in the state of New York, and 

 rarely as far nortli as Massachusetts ; but these places may be considered far 

 beyond the limits where this tree ceases to be an inhabitant of the forests. It 

 frequently occurs in the middle and southern states of the union, particularly in 

 the mountainous tracts of Carolina and Georgia. It is almost exclusively seen 

 on the borders of rivers and creeks, and is observed to be more multiplied in 

 approaching the Alleghanies, till, in the midst of these mountains, especially in 

 Virginia, it becomes so abundant on the sides of the torrents, as to form impene- 

 trable thickets. Deeply-sliaded situations, in the vicinity of cool and crystal 

 waters flowing among rocks, where the atmosphere is charged with vapour, are 

 the most congenial to the growth of this tree. 



This species was introduced into Britain by Peter Collinson, in 1736; but it 

 did not flower in England, as Miller informs us, until 1756 ; and the only person 

 who then succeeded in raising it, was Mr. James Gordon, at Mile End. It has 

 also been introduced into many of the gardens and collections on the continent of 

 Europe ; but as it is not nearly so easy of cultivation as the Rhododendron pon- 

 ticum, it does not grow to so large a size. In Derbyshire, England, at Shipley 

 Hall, there is a specimen of the Pontic rhododendron exceeding sixteen feet in 

 iieight, the branches of which cover a space nearly sixty feet in diameter. In 

 the Bartram botanic garden, at Kingsessing, near Philadelphia, there is a Rho- 

 dodendron maximum fifteen feet in height, with a top forty-five feet in circum- 

 ference. 



Propagation atid Culture. The Rhododendron maximum, like all its conge- 

 ners, may be propagated by cuttings of the young shoots, taken off" in a growing 

 state, when their lower ends have begun to ripen, and planted in pure sand, and 

 covered with a bell-glass, or by layers; but the best plants of this, and all the 

 other species, are procured from seeds. They are ripe in August or September ; 

 and, though they will retain their vital principle for upwards of a year, it is con- 

 sidered safest to sow them soon after they are gathered. They should be sown 

 in peat soil, or very fine sandy loam, in pots or boxes, or in a border shaded from 

 the direct influence of the sun ; and kept in a uniform state of moisture, and pro- 

 tected from the frost. In sowing, the surface of the soil should previously be 

 made quite smooth, and gently pressed down, or watered till it has settled to a 

 level surface ; and, after the seeds have been equally distributed over this sur- 

 face, they should be covered with no more soil than is barely requisite to conceal 

 them from the eye. Seeds sown in autumn will germinate in the following 

 spring, and will be fit for transplanting by the next autumn, or by the spring of the 

 following year. After seedling plants have been a year in pots, or in the seed- 

 bed, they may be planted into nursery lines, and removed every year, or every 

 second year, and placed at greater distances, till they have acquired the size at 

 which it is considered desirable to sell them, or to plant them where they are 

 finally to remain. At whatever age or size they are removed from the nursery, 

 they require, in common with all hair-rooted plants, to have a small ball of earth 

 attached to their roots, and to have these carefully protected from drought by 

 mats. In consequence of almost all the rhododendrons and azaleas being remov- 



