AZALEA AMC3NA. 101 



varieties of the Polyanthus, and in the Campanula coronata, figured in our first 

 volume, the calyx being, in all probability converted into an external corolla. The 

 stamens are but five in number, in which respect it differs from the A. indica, 

 and approaches the deciduous species. As to its perfect hardiness, our readers 

 need only turn to the article in our previous number by Messrs. Standish and 

 Noble, the importers of this pretty shrub, to be satisfied on this point. It has 

 braved unhurt the severities of the past season, and has subsequently flowered 

 profusely. 



With regard to its history, Mr. Fortune, its discoverer, states that it was found 

 in a nursery near Shanghae, having been originally brought from the city of 

 Soo-chow-foo in the interior ; though whether it there occurs wild, or is a garden 

 production, we are not informed, the latter appears the most probable. No double 

 flowers are known to occur wild, the numerous ornamental plants of this character 

 in our gardens being invariably the result of cultivation. 



The treatment of this species may be assimilated to that of the older hardy 

 Azaleas, or, in other words, to that of the common Rhododendrons. It requires 

 good fibrous sandy heath-mould or peat, plenty of water during the growing 

 season, and a situation not too much exposed to the mid-day sun. Although 

 perfectly hardy, its compact dwarf habit well adapts it for pot-culture, and as it 

 is found to force readily, it will probably take its place in the greenhouse by the 

 side of the A. indica. Apart from its value as an ornamental evergreen, consi- 

 derable interest attaches to this plant, from the opportunities it will afford of 

 originating, by hybridization with the greenhouse varieties, as well as with the 

 hardy deciduous species, a new race of hardy evergreen Azaleas, which may vie 

 in the splendour of their tints with the more delicate varieties at present cultivated. 

 It is not generally known that the white variety of the Azalea indica is much 

 hardier than is commonly supposed. We have not ourselves exposed a plant 

 during the winter, but in Belgium the experiment has been attended with some 

 success, and as our winters are usually milder than those of the northern part of 

 the continent, it may be worth while risking a specimen or two for the sake of 

 determining what amount of cold this plant will bear. 



Although we have spoken of the hardy deciduous Azaleas, as inferior for orna- 

 mental purposes to the evergreen Rhododendrons, they are nevertheless very 

 desirable plants for the shrubbery, or for clumps of American plants, and possess 

 at least one attraction Tiot usually shared by their allies, in the delicious fragrance 

 of the blossoms of most of the species ; some of the species and varieties have 

 flowers of a rich orange or yellow, a colour which, if not altogether unknown 

 amongst Rhododendrons, is by no means common. 



There is, first, the well-known A. pontica, from the Caucasus, with oval leaves, 

 fringed at the edge with hairs, and more or less pubescent on its two surfaces, 



