NOTES ON INDIGENOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 



659 



tuse at llie base, both sides green ; segments 

 of corolla oblong, obtuse ; style little longer 

 than the stamens ; flowers purple. This 

 has also been made a distinct species by G. 

 Don, see DecandoUe, vol. 7, p. 722. 



We think the above are mere varieties 

 of Rhododendro7i viaxAmum, and perhaps it 

 would be better to include them under that 

 species, by varying and extending the de- 

 scription. In extensive explorations of the 

 mountains of Virginia and North Carolina, 

 we could never distinguish any specific dif- 

 ference in the varied forms assumed by R. 

 maximum ; they all seem to pass by insen- 

 sible gradations into each other, yet all 

 conforming to one general type. That this 

 species should vary in its appearance is natu- 

 ral, since it is found upon the banks of 

 streams near the base of the mountains to 

 their extreme summit, where it becomes 

 dwarfish. 



The var. purpureiim, Pursh says, " occu- 

 pies the borders of lakes on high mountains, 

 and grows to an immense size ; its stem is 

 often found eighteen inches and more in 

 diameter, and its foliage triple the size of 

 any other species." This has been copied 

 by various succeeding authors, and Mr. 

 Browne, in his Trees of America, p. 360, 

 remarks that " it is a native of Virginia and 

 Carolina, on the highest mountains, near 

 lakes, Avhere it forms a large shrub, or low 

 tree, growing to the height of twenty-five 

 feet, flowering in the months of May and 

 Jiuie.'' We are confident there are no 

 lakes, either on or among the niounatins 

 of Carolina ; but of the mountains of Vir- 

 ginia, we can not speak with such con- 

 fidence ; yet we never saw a mountain 

 lake there, nor Pursh's large Rhododendron, 

 but he probably found it among the moun- 

 tains of Pennsylvania or perhaps Virginia. 

 Besides the foregoing perennial leaved spe- 



cies, there is the dwarf R. Iwppon'xcum, 

 growing on the White Mountains of New- 

 Hampshire, and the high mountains in Es- 

 sex county, in this State, (N. Y.) There 

 is also another species, the R. macropkyl- 

 lum, or the Large-leaved Rhododendron, 

 which was found on the west coast of Ame- 

 rica, by Menzies. 



RHODODENDRON NUDIFLORUM. Wild Honeysuckle. 



(TOEREY.) 



Leaves deciduous, obovate-lanceolate and 

 oblong-lanceolate; flowers slightly viscid, 

 corymbose ; tube of the corolla longer than 

 the lobes; stamens much exserted ; flowers 

 in terminal clusters, appearing b«»fore the 

 leaves are fully expanded ; corolla pink or 

 rose colour ; calyx hairy and short. Azalea 

 midlflorum of many old authors. Woods and 

 banks of streams; common in the northern 

 and western States, as far south as Florida. 



It is often cultivated in gardens, and is 

 truly a beautiful shrub, with fragrant flowers 

 which expand in April and May. There 

 are eleven varieties of this species in culti- 

 vation in England, which are enumerated 

 by Loudon. 



RHODODENDRON VISCOSUM. ^Vl^i^e Wild HoneysttckU. 

 (Tokrey) 



Leaves oblong lanceolate and obovate; 

 flowers very viscid ; tube of the corolla 

 twice as long as the lobes, and stamens 

 slightly exserted. Azalea viscosa of some 

 authors, now generally referred to Rhodo- 

 dendron. A shrub 4-6 feet high, with 

 numerous spreading branches near the top ; 

 flowers in terminal clusters, very fragrant ; 

 corolla white ; calyx hirsute, small ; flowers 

 June -July. This very fragrant species 

 occurs frequently in the southern part of 

 New- York, on Long-Island, and in Connec- 

 ticut and Pennsylvania, in moist places and 

 woodlands. An excellent figure of it is 

 given by Torrey in the first volume of the 

 Flora of the Slate of New-York. 



