I 



ERICACEAE 221 



Leaf margins at least ciliate-toothed. 



Leaves densely covered on both sides with minute, round, 



scurfy scales Chamaedaphne, p. 224 



Leaves hairy only on the midrib and lateral veins 



beneath Azalea, p. 221 



AZALEA Linnaeus 

 The Azaleas 



The azaleas are for the most part tall, erect, branching 

 shrubs with alternate, thin, deciduous leaves and large, col- 

 ored flowers arranged in terminal umbels. The calyx is small 

 and 5-parted, and the somewhat 2-lipped corolla consists of 

 5 petals, w^hich are united below into a narrow tube. There 

 are 5 or, rarely, 10 stamens, which extend beyond the tube of 

 the corolla, and the 5-celled ovary develops into a 5-celled 

 capsule, which contains many seeds and opens along the septa 

 from the top downw^ard. 



There are about 40 species of azaleas native in North 

 America and Asia. Some 10 of these are native in the eastern 

 United States, but only 1 occurs in Illinois. The azaleas usually 

 are included in the genus Rhododeyidron, and the Pink Azalea 

 then is known as R. nudiflorum (Linnaeus) Torrey. 



AZALEA NUDIFLORA Linnaeus 

 Pink Azalea Wild Honeysuckle 



The Pink Azalea, fig. 58, is a shrub which growls to a height 

 of 2 to 6 feet, producing stems that are unbranched below but 

 branched above into glabrous or stiffly hairy twigs. The oblong 

 to ovate leaves are 2 to 4 inches long, acute at both ends, short 

 petioled, hairy on the midrib and sometimes on the veins be- 

 neath, glabrous above when old, and ciliolate on the serrate 

 margins. 



The pink to nearly white, slightly odorous flowers, which 

 open before or at the time the leaves appear, are li^ to 2 inches 

 broad and are grouped in umbels at the tip of the branches. 

 The corolla is somewhat 2-lipped and shorter than the narrow 

 tube. The stamens extend much beyond the corolla. The fruit 

 is a linear to oblong, strigose-hairy capsule about ^ inch long, 

 which stands erect on a hairy pedicel. 



Distribution. — The Pink Azalea grows in dry, sandy or 



