NAT. ORDER. 



EricacecR. 



AZALEA NUDIFLORA. NAKED-FLOWERED AZALEA. 



Class V. Pentandria. Order I. Monogvnia. 



Gen. Char. Calyx five-parted. Corolla short, campanulate, five- 

 cleft. Stamens five, equal, shorter than the corolla. Style 

 straight, inclosed. Capsule five-celled, with five cloven-pointed 

 valves. 



Spe. Char. Leaves opposite, small, elliptic, glabrous. Flowers 

 pedicillate, snnall, red, rising in foscicles from the axils of the 

 upper leaves. The Seeds many, and roundish. 



This is a genus containing plants of the hardy, deciduous, flower- 

 ing, shrubby kinds. This plant, in its native situation, often rises 

 to the height of fifteen feet, but is seldom if ever more than half 

 that height in other countries ; it sends out several stems from the 

 roots ; the leaves are oblong, smooth, and alternate and petioled ; the 

 peduncles are axillary, long, and naked, supporting a cluster of red 

 flowers, which are tuberous, swelling at their base like those of the 

 hyacinth, and contracted at their neck ; they are divided at the top 

 into five equal segments, which spread open ; the five stamens and 

 styles are much longer than the petals, and stand erect. It is a 

 native of Virginia, but inhabits most of the New-England States, 

 where it seeks rough and rocky places. 



There are varieties of this plant with scarlet flowers, with pale- 

 red flowers, with early white flowers, with red and wliite flowers, 

 and with variegated flowers. 



Azalea viscosa. Viscid-flowered Azalea. This species is a low 

 slirub, rising with several slender stems to the height of nearly four 



Vol iv.-lU 



