RHODODENDRON. 



26^ 



RHODODENDRON. 



Nepal scarlet, H. arhoreum, grows 

 about twenty feet high, -ndth im- 

 mense bunches of dark scarlet flow- 

 ers, which have a rich Yelvet-Uke 

 appearance. The flowers secrete 

 honey in such abundance that it 

 actually drops from the corollas. 

 The leaves are large and silvery be- 

 neath. The large white- blossomed 

 tree Rhododendron, R. cinnqmio- 

 meum , has long narrowTeaves, much 

 wrinkled and covered beneath with 

 a coarse shaggy reddish wool. The 

 flowers are generally white, but 

 there is a variety, the flowers of 

 which are rose-coloured. R. cam- 

 jiccmdafum and R. RoUinsoni, the 

 Ceylon scarlet, are also splendid 

 species ; but in 1850, Dr. Joseph 

 Hooker sent home a number of spe- 

 cies of the Himalaya Ehododendron, 

 which far sui'pass in size and beauty 

 of flower all that had hitherto been 

 introduced. All the species of Rho- 

 dodendron brought from the Hima- 

 layas are very ornamental, but none 

 are more so than R. Dalkoiisice, 

 which flowered for the first time 

 in England in March 1853. The 

 flowers are very large and fragrant, 

 when they open they are green ; 

 they then change to yellow, and 

 afterwards become a pure white, 

 which in their native country is 

 tinged with rose-colour before the 

 flowers drop. The species in the 

 Himalayas is a straggling shrub 

 with a red papery bark, and bearing 

 its flowers and leaves only at the 

 extremity of each shoot ; and as it 

 grows in moist forests 9000 feet 

 above the level of the sea, it will 

 probably prove hardy in shady moist 

 places. R. glaucum is another Hi- 

 malayan species, which will probably 

 prove hardy in this country. It is 

 a shinib about a foot high, pro- 

 ducing a great profusion of bell- 

 shaped pink flowers, which have a 

 resinous smell. R. niveum, also 



from the Himalayas, has large clus- 

 ters of lUac flowers, and takes its 

 name of nlvea (snowy) from the 

 whiteness of the under side of the 

 leaves. In addition to these, other 

 Indian Rhododendrons have been 

 introduced— some shrubs of 10 feet 

 or 12 feet high, and others actually 

 Epiphytes, growing on the branches 

 of trees in Java and Borneo, Some, 

 as R. Jaranicum, have bright yel- 

 low flowers; others, &sR. ciluitum, 

 R. Blanfordiceildrum, and R. Jas- 

 minifldrura, lose the form of the 

 Rhododendron flower ; while others, ' 

 j such as the old R. hirsutum and 

 R. feiTugineuni are dwarf Alpine 

 [ rocks, clothing the sides of moun- 

 i tains close to the regions of per- 

 I pe+ual snow. The principal dwarf 

 species are R. chrysdnthum, with 

 yellow flowers, R. ferrugoieura and 

 R. kirsutiii/i, with rose-coloured 

 flowers, and R. caucdsicum, with 

 purple or white flowers. All these 

 scarcely exceed a foot in height, and 

 some of them are not more than six 

 inches. R. dauricum is not a 

 dwarf plant ; but it is a low shrub, 

 with Azalea-like flowers of a pale- 

 lilac crimson, which are produced 

 from December till March, and the 

 flowers of the species appear before 

 the leaves, though there is a variety, 

 R. d. atrorirens, that is evergreen. 

 It is very ornamental, and it is 

 valuable fi-om the early season at 

 which it flowers. All the Rhodo- 

 dendrons were at flrst supposed to 

 have crimson, scarlet, or white 

 flowers, and when one was raised 

 by a cross with a yellow Azalea 

 having yellowish flowers it was very 

 much admired. In 1847,. however, 

 the Rhododendrons already alluded 

 to were introduced from Java, with 

 brilliant yellow flowers, and fleshy 

 roots ; the plants themselves being 

 found growing not in the ground, 

 but on trees, which threw the pre- 



