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AZALEA AMCENA. 



AZALEA AMGENA. 



Dwarf Crimson Chinese Azalea. 

 Linnean Class — Pentandria. Order— Monogtnia. Natural Order — Ericaceae. 



Although by common consent the Azaleas and Bhododendrons of our Gardens are, 

 nominally at least, spoken of as If belonging to distinct genera, they constitute in 

 reality at most but different sections of one and the same genus ; and even the 

 slight distinctions which originally obtained between them bid fair to become 

 speedily obliterated by the hybridization of the various species. The earliest 

 introduced Azaleas were characterised by their deciduous leaves, and five stamens ; 

 the Ehododendrons being, on the other hand, distinguished by their evergreen foliage 

 and ten stamens. The discovery, however, of the Chinese Azalea, A. Indica, and 

 its varieties, with persistent foliage and stamens nearly as numerous as those of the 

 Ehododendrons, at once suggested the identity of the two genera ; and this fact soon 

 received full confirmation from the easy manner in which they were made to inter- 

 mingle by cross-breeding. Since this period numerous hybrids have been raised 

 between Azaleas and Rhododendrons ; and if more has not been effected in this 

 field, it is no doubt attributable to the superior results obtained by the admixture of 

 the true Ehododendrons with each other, the evergreen character of which renders 

 them far more valuable for ornamental purposes than the deciduous Azaleas or than 

 any hybrids between these and the Ehododendrons. The evergreen Chinese Azalea 

 A. Indica, being too tender for out-door cultivation in this country, and therefore 

 restricted to the greenhouse, of which it is a justly esteemed ornament, the only 

 species hitherto seen in our shrubberies are the deciduous Azaleas from North 

 America, and the Caucasus. 



We have, however, the gratification to announce the introduction from the 

 North of China of a new species, perfectly evergreen in its character, with 

 flowers of a singularly interesting form, and so hardy that there can be no doubt its 

 employment as an out-door shrub will be limited only by its rate of increase. 

 This species, the A. amcena, is figured in our plate for the present month. It is 

 one of the dwarfest of all the Azaleas yet discovered, but as the specimens in this 

 country are but small, we are unable to give its natural dimensions. Its leaves are 

 of a small and Box-like form, and covered with hairs similar to those of the A- 

 indica, but of a coarser character. The young branches are also clothed with long 

 thin white scales, which disappear in the older shoots, or are metamorphosed into 

 brown hairs. The flowers which in colour are a fine rosy crimson, are remarkable 

 for being of the form popularly known as ' hose-in-hose,' as seen in many cultivated 



