ERICACEAE. (heath FAMILY.) 321 



Michx.) — Woods, mountains of Penn. to Ga. May. Covered just when the 

 leaves appear with a profusion of large orange blossoms, usually turning to 

 flame-color, not fragrant. 



* * Flower-buds of ftwer and early caducous scales; corolla irregular, with 

 short or hardly any tube, anteriorly divided to the base ; the limb equalling 

 the 10 stamens and style. 



5. R. Rhodora, Don. Young parts sparingly strigose-hairy (1-2° high) ; 

 leaves oblong, pale, more or less pubescent ; corolla hardly 1 ' long, purplish- 

 rose-color, bilabiate, with the posterior lip 3-lobed, the anterior of 2 oblong- 

 linear and recurving nearly or quite distinct petals. (Rhodora Canadensis, L.) 



— Cool bogs, Xewf. and N. Eng. to mountains of Penn. 



§ 2. RHODODENDRON proper. Leaves coriaceous and persistent : stamens 

 {commonly 10) and style rarely exserted, somewhat declined, or sometimes 

 equally spreading. 



6. R. maximuin, L. (Great Laurel.) Leaves 4-10' long, very 

 thick, elliptical-oblong or lance-oblong, acute, narroived toward the base^ very 

 smooth, with somewhat revolute margins; pedicels viscid ; corolla bell-shaped, 

 r broad, pale rose-color or nearly white, greenish in the throat on t^e upper 

 side, and spotted with yellow or reddish. — Damp deep woods, rare from Maine 

 to Ohio, but very common through the AUeghanies from N. Y. to Ga. July. 



— Shrub or tree 6 - 35° high. < • ; v:^N;v 



7. R. Catawbiense, Michx. Leaves oval or oblong, rmnded at both ends, 

 smooth, pale beneath (3-5' long); corolla broadly bell-shaped, lilac-purple; 

 pedicels rusty-downy. — High AUeghanies, Va. to Ga. June. Shrub 3-6° 

 (rarely 20°) high. 



8. R. Lapponicum, Wahl. Dwarf, prostrate in broad tufts (6' high) ; 

 leaves (-J' long) elliptical, obtuse, dotted (like the branches) with rusty scales; 

 umbels few-flowered; corolla open bell-shaped, dotted, violet-purple; stamens 

 5-10. — Alpine summits- of northern N. Y. and N. Eng., to the Arctic Coast. 

 July. (Arct. Eu. and Asia.) 



17. LEDUM, L. Labrador Tea. 



Calyx 5-toothed, very small. Corolla of 5 obovate and spreading distinct 

 petals. Stamens 5 - 10 ; anthers opening by terminal pores. Capsule 5-celled, 

 splitting from the base upward, many-seeded ; placentse borne on the summit 

 of the columella. — Low shrubs, with the alternate entire leaves clothed with 

 rusty wool underneath, persistent, the margins revolute ; herbage sliglitly fra- 

 grant when bruised. Flowers white, small, in terminal umbel-like clusters 

 from large scaly buds ; bracts or scales thin and caducous. (AtjSoj', the ancient 

 Greek name of the Cistus.) 



1. L. latifolium, Ait. Erect, 1-3° high; leaves oblong or linear-ob- 

 long (1-2' long), mostly V wide, very obtuse; stamens 5-7; capsule oblong, 

 acutish. — N. Eng. to Penn., Mich., Minn., and northward, in cold bogs and 

 mountain woods. 



L. FALtJSTRE, L., with linear leaves, 10 stamens, and short-oval capsule, is 

 found in Newfoundland and northwestward. (Eu.) 



