RHODODENDRON. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN, rhodothamnus. S05 



leaves are a foot long, covered beneath 

 with a beautiful felt, silvery-white at 

 first, turning brown with exposure. R. 

 racemosuDi is the most useful and dis- 

 tinct of these new kinds, growing with- 

 out any trouble, and readily increased. 

 It makes a low shrub, well adapted to 

 the rock-garden, growing slowly, needing 

 little root-room, and flowering freely from 

 a height of only a few inches. The 

 white or pale rosy flowers are not large, 

 but instead of confined as in other Rho- 

 dodendrons to a rounded truss at the 

 tips of the shoots, here they also ap- 

 pear all along the shoots as clusters 

 from the leaf-axils, so that in April each 

 branch is transformed into a raceme of 

 flowers. R. ?-ubigi?tosiim, a scarce kind 

 which has proved fully hardy at Kew, 

 its flowers bright rose spotted with crim- 

 son. It flowers in late April or May, 

 and is easily increased from home-saved 

 seeds. R. scabrifoliiun is a pretty little 

 plant, never growing high, with rosy 

 flowers and hairy leaves and stems. A'. 

 vimnanense, one of the best, is a beau- 

 tiful hardy kind of slender open growth, 

 doing best in a sheltered spot, where it 

 blooms in May. The trusses are small 

 but exceedingly graceful, composed of 

 flowers 2 inches or so across, white or 

 • rosy-lilac, freely spotted with dark red 

 on the upper petals. 



Species of Rhododendron.— Ac- 

 cording to the Kew list, the following 

 species of Rhododendron are in cultiva- 

 tion. About double the number are in 

 some books, many of them of uncertain 

 value. 



R. albiflorum, N. America ; ovatuni, China ; al- 

 brcckti, Japan ; arborescens, U. States •,calenduiaceu»i, 

 do. ; dilatatum, Japan ; Jiavum, Caucasus ; indicum, 

 China and Japan ; ledi/olimii, do. ; linear i/olimn, 

 Japan ; nudiflorutn, Canada to Florida and Texas ; 

 occidentale, California ; Rhodora, N. America ; rhotit- 

 bicuiit, Japan ; Schlippenbachii, Mandshuria and 

 Japan ; serpylli/oliuni, Japan ; sinense, China and 

 Japan ; Vaseyi, Mountains of Carolina ; viscosutii, 

 N. America ; altaclerense, garden origin ; Anthopogon, 

 Alpine Himalaya, and N. Asia ; arboreuin. Temperate 

 Himalaya ; aucttba'/oli-mii, China ; Augustinii, China ; 

 auriculatum, China ; blandiamim, garden origin ; 

 brachycarpum, Japan ; cali/ornicutii, California ; cam- 

 panulatum, Alpine Himalaya ; campylocarpiim, Sik- 

 kim ; catawbiense, Virginia to Georgia ; caucasicitiu, 

 Caucasus ; ciliatu>n, Sikkim ; cinnabnrinujii, do. ; 

 collcttianum, Afghanistan; Cunninghami, garden 

 origin ; daiiricum, Dahuria to Mandshuria and Sa- 

 chalin ; decorum, Yunnan ; Delavnvi, do. ; ferru- 

 gineum, Alps of Europe ; arbuti/olzu7>!, Hammondi, 

 IViisoni, all garden origin ; Fortune!, China; fulgens. 

 Mountains of India ; glaucuvi, do. ; halcnse, Austrian 

 Alps ; hirsutiformc , do. ; hbsutum, Alps of Europe ; 

 hypoglaucuin, China; intenuedium,lLyTo\\ kamtcha- 

 ticuiii. North Asia ; Kewense, garden origin ; Keysii, 

 Bhotan ; iacteutii, Yunnan ; lepidotuvi. Temperate 

 and Alpine Himalaya ; Luscombei, garden origin ; 

 Manglesii, do. ; maxivnim, N. America ; Metier- 

 nichii, Japan ; iiticratithum. China ; Diyrtifolivin, 

 garden origin ; niveum, Sikkim ; nobleanuin, garden 

 origin ; parvifolium, Siberia, China, &c. ; pittospora- 

 folia, China ; ponticum, Spain, Portugal, Asia Minor ; 



proecox, garden origin ; Przeivalskii, China ; pulcher- 

 rimum, garden origin ■,punctatu>n, N. America ; race- 

 mosum, \Vestern China ; roseunt odoratum, garden 

 origin ; rubigiJiosuvi, China ; Russellianutn, garden 

 origin ; scabriJoliu:ii, China ; Smirnoivi, Caucasus ; 

 Sniithii, garden origin ; Tliomsoni, Nepaul and Sik- 

 kim; tortonianuin, garden origin; Ungerni, Caucasus ; 

 vcnustum, garden origin ; virgaium, Sikkim ; yun- 

 nancnsc, China ; azaleoides, Cartoni, gemmiferu7ti, 

 and e:owerianuiu, all of garden origin. 



RHODORA {Canadiati Rhodora). — R. 

 ca7iadensis is a pretty deciduous bush, 2 

 to 4 ft. high, allied to the Rhododendron, 

 a native of the swamps of Canada, hardy, 

 and needing a moist light soil, though it 

 prefers peat. In very early spring it 

 has clusters of fragrant rosy-purple flowers 

 before the leaves unfold. 



RHODOTHAMNUS.— 7?. chamcecistiis 

 is a beautiful little alpine bush very rare 

 in gardens and rather difficult to cultivate. 

 It is less than 1 ft. in height, with ovate 

 leaves from a quarter of an inch to half 



Rhodothamnus chamaecistus. 



an inch long, thickly clustered on the 

 twigs, the margins set with slender hairs. 

 It flowers towards the end of April and 

 the beginning of May, and produces its 

 blossoms in clusters at the ends of the 

 shoots. From two to four flowers are in 

 the cluster, and each is about ij inch 

 in diameter, the free portions of the petals 

 fully expanded. The colour is a pale 

 clear pink with a ring of a deeper shade 

 in the centre. A feature of the flower also 

 is the long stamens. It is by no means 

 rare in a wild state, being found in the 

 Tyrol (often in large patches) as well as 

 in Carniola. In cultivating this plant, full 

 exposure of the foliage to sunlight, com- 

 bined with cool, uniformly moist conditions 

 at the roots are necessary. It should be 

 planted in a sunny position in a crevice 

 or small pocket between the stones, which 

 keep the roots permanently moist and 



