1136 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART Ill. 
Gin. to 1 ft. in height, and flowering in June and July. Pallas found it in 
Kamtschatka, growing in the hollows at the foot of mountains, and 
by the margins of stagnant pools. It is indigenous through the whole of 
Siberia, from Lake Baical to the river Lena; thriving equally on the eS 
of mountains covered with snow, and in the peat bogs of the valley. It 
was introduced in 1796, but is not common in collections, being very dif- 
ficult to keep. The best plants, in the neighbourhood of London, are at 
the Knaphill Nursery, Woking, Surrey. This shrub has a place in the British 
materia medica, and is frequently prescribed as a substitute for colchicum, 
in the cure of the gout and rheumatism. Its value as a medicine was first 
discovered by Gmelin and Steller, when travelling in Siberia, who inform us 
that the Siberians have recourse to it in rheumatie and other affections of 
the muscles and joints. The manner of using the plant by the Siberians 1s, 
by putting two drachms of the dried leaves in an earthen pot, with about 
10 oz. of boiling water, and keeping it nearly at a boiling heat for a night : 
this they take in the morning, and, by repeating the dose three or four times, 
generally effect a cure. It is said to occasion heat, thirst, a degree of de- 
lirium, and a peculiar sensation of the parts affected. ( Woodville.) 
* 7. R.cauca’sicum Pall, The Caucasian Rhododendron. 
Identification. Pall. F1. Ross., 1. p. 46. t. 30. ; Don’s Mill, 5. p. 844,; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 
Engravings Bot. Mag., t 1145.; and our fig. 934. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves ovate-oblong, clothed with 
rusty tomentum beneath, rugged and green above. 
Peduncles hairy. Bracteas elongated, tomentose. 
Ovarium downy. Root creeping. Branches _pro- 
cumbent. Flowers purple or white, disposed in 
umbellate corymbs. Corollas rotate, with wavy, 
rounded segments. (Don’s Mill., iii. p. 844.) A 
native of Caucasus, on high rocks, near the limits 
of perpetual snow; where it forms an evergreen 
shrub, growing 1 ft. high, and flowering in August. 
It was introduced in 1803, but is rare in col- 
lections. There are plants at Messrs. Loddiges’s, “~ 
and at Knaphill. 934 

Varieties. The following hybrids are among the handsomest rhododendrons 
in cultivation : — 
~ # R. c. 2 stramineum Hook. Bot. Mag., t. 3422., has straw-coloured co- 
rollas. A plant of this variety in the Glasgow Botanic Garden, in 
April, 1835, was 2 ft. high, and 3 ft. in diameter, with the extre- 
mities of its fine leafy branches terminated with clusters of large, 
beautiful, straw-coloured flowers. The climate of Scotland seems 
to suit this, and some of the other species found in the coldest parts 
of the Russian empire, better than that of the south of England. 
# R.c. 3 pulchérrimum Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1820. f.2., is a hybrid, ob- 
tained by Mr. Waterer of the Knaphill Nursery, between #. arbo- 
reum and #. caucdsicum, in 1832. It is described as a “ most beau- 
tiful variety,” quite hardy, and an abundant flowerer. 
# R.c.4 Nobleanum Hort., Bot. Reg., t. 1820. f. 1.,is a hybrid, very 
much like the preceding one in all respects, except that its flowers 
are of a deep and brilliant rose colour. 
# 8. R. puncta’rum Andr. The dotted-/eaved Rhododendron. 
Identification. Andr. Bot. Rep., 36.; Vent. Cels, t. 15.; Don’s Mill., 3. p. 844. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 
Synonymes. Mf. ferrugineum var. minus Pers. Ench., 1. p. 478.; 2. minus Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. 
p. 258.; 72. punctatum var. minus Wats. Dend. Brit., 162. a. 
Engravings. Andr. Bot. Rep., 36.; Vent. Cels. t. 15. ; Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 162. a.; and our jig, 935. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves oval-lanceolate, acute at both ends, glabrous, beset 
with rusty resinous dots beneath. Pedicels short. Calycine teeth short. 
