1146 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART Il. 
App. i. Half-hardy Species of Rhododéndron (and Azalea). 
§ i. Booram, 
Derivation. The name of R. arbdreum in Nepal. 
Sect. Char., &c. Limb of calyx 5-lobed. Corolla campanulate, Evergreen trees, natives of the 
Himalayas, and other mountainous regions of northern India. 
A. Species already introduced into British Gardens. 
228. R. arpo’reum Smith. The scarlet-flowered Tree Rhododendron. 
Identification. Smith Exot. Bot., t. 6.; Hook. Exot. Fl., 158.; Don’s Mill., 3. p. 844. 
Synonyme. R. purpireum Hamilt. MSS. 
Engravings, Smith Exot. Bot., t. 6.; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t.896.; and our fig. 951. ari, 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves lanceolate, acute, silvery beneath, tapering to the 
base. Peduncles and calyxes woolly. Segments of corolla 2-lobed, with 
crenulated curled mar- - 
gins. Capsules 10-celled, 
tomentose. Leaves 4—6 
in. long. Flowers large, 
scarlet, dotted with black 
on the upper lip inside, 
disposed in dense heads. 
Stigma capitate, crenu- ——__< ¢ 
lated. (Dan's Mil., ii. LVS 
p. 844.) A tree, 20 ft. 
high, very showy when in 
blossom; a native of Ne- 
pal, on the mountains at 
Narainhetty, where it is 
called booram by the 
natives. It was intro- 
duced in 1817, and flowers, in conservatories, in April and May. Plants 
in Knight’s Exotic Nursery, sown there in 1821, are now, in 1836, 18 ft. 
high, with trunks 8 in. in diameter: they grow in pots 2 ft. in diameter, 
and flower abundantly every year, or every other year. These flowers 
secrete honey to such an extent, that, when the plant is shaken, it falls 
from them like large drops of rain; and Mr. Knight informed us that he 
believed each head of flowers would yield from a teaspoonful to a dessert- 
spoonful at a time. After being exhausted, a fresh supply is secreted ; so 
that the quantity that one head might produce, if the tree were frequently 
shaken, appears to be limited only by the duration of the flowers. 
Varieties and Hybrids. 
# R. a. 1 sanguineum Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 890., has the corollas blood- 
coloured, and may be considered as the species. Those spoken of 
above are of this kind. 
¢ R. a. 2 roseum Swt. Brit. Fl.-Gard., 2d ser. t. 389., Bot Reg., t. 
1240., has rosy-coloured corollas. This variety was raised by Mr. 
Smith, at Combe House, in 1819, from Nepal seeds, and the plants 
flowered when they were not more than 2 ft. high. According to 
Dr. Wallich, R.a.7rdseum occurs with R. a. niveum on the moun- 
tain of Sheopore, at an elevation of 10,000 ft. above the level of 
the sea. It is likely, therefore, to be less tender than R. arboreum 
sanguineum, which is found at a much lower elevation, and it may 
ultimately prove to be quite hardy. There are plants of this sort 
at Mr. Knight’s and Messrs. Loddiges’s. 
¢ R. a. 3 niveum Swt.; R. album Hamilt. MSS., Swt. Fl.-Gard., t. 148., 
~  Don’s Mill., iii. p. 844.; R. arboreum fléribus. niveis D. Don Prod. 
Fl. Nep., p. 154.3 R. arboreum album Wall. P/. Asiat. Rar., ii. t. 123.5 
has white flowers spotted with purple on the upper lip. Dr. Lindley, 
speaking of this variety, says, “ Never did we behold any flower 



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