IRISH GARDENING. 



37 



position for the sake of its early racemes of 

 white iiowers. 



The leaves are up to five inches long and 

 over an inch wide, rather abruptly pointed; the 

 mid-rib, whic'h is prominent below, has a 

 slightly pink tinge on the upper surface. 



The flower racemes are longer than the 

 leaves, and are composed of a great n\iniber of 

 comparatively large white flowers. 



the same way as we can use Kh. micranthum 



and Eh. longistylum. 



Pih. Sphaeranthuni is described as having 

 reddish young branehlets, the leaves stalked 



and up to an inch long, thick and leathery ; 



flowers rose or white, crowded at the tips of 



the branehlets." 



From the illustration it is evident that this 



new species is oiie that will lend itself to cul- 



Photo hij] 



KlIODODEXDROX SPHAEfRANTHUM. 



[George Forrest 



Rhododendron sphaeranthum. 



This interesting new Rhododendron, which we 

 figure in the pi'esent issue from a photograph 

 taken in China by INIr. Geo. Fon-est, is now 

 in cultivation. It has flowered in England, 

 and is described in Mr. Millais' sumptuous 

 work on Ehododendrons. From the descrip- 

 tion, it appears to be an attractive dwarf 

 species, suitable for the rock garden, in ixiuch 



tivation in a restricted space, and on that 

 account is doubly welcome. Eh. micranthum 

 alluded to above, flourishes on the rock garden 

 wedged in between stones, with a restricted root 

 space, and grows far better there than planted 

 in the conventional bed oif peat. Happily, 

 there seems to be quite a number of species 

 belonging to this twiggy-'habited small-flowered 

 section which will make good rock garden 

 plants, and add yet another feature to our 

 gardens. 



