CHAP. LXIX. 



ZjRrcA'CE/E. tjhodode'ndron. 



35 



arboretum it is named li. ponticum macrophyllum. The jear of its intro- 

 duction into British gardens is uncertain; nor has it been much cultivated. 



• 4. li. Pc'rsh// G. Don. Pursh's Rhododendron, or American Rose Baj/. 



Identification. Don's Mill., o p. 8-t3. 



Si/nonytiie. R. mixinium /3 album Pursh Ft. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 297. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Arborescent Leaves cuneate-lanceolate, flat, glabrous, tapering gradually to the 



base, paler beneath. Calycine segments oval, obtuse. Segments of corolla roundish. oblong. 



Flowers white, and smaller than those of R. maximum. [Don's Mill., iii. p. 84.3.) A native of New 



Jersey and Delaware, in shady cedar swamps; where it forms a shrub growing from fi f t. to 8 ft. 



high, flowering from June to August. It was introduced in ISll, but is not common in col. 



lections. 



5. R. cat.\wbie'nse Michx. 



The Catawba Rhododendron. 



Lodd. Cat , ed. 1836. 



Jdentificaticm. Michx. Fl. Bir. .Amer., 1. p. 2.58.; Don's Mill., 3. p. 843. 

 Engravings. Bot. Mag., t. 1671. ; Lodd. Bot. Cab., t 1176.; and o\xt Jig. 93o. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves short-oval, rounded, and obtuse at both ends, gla- 

 brous, of a different colour beneath. Calycine segments elongated oblong. 

 Flowers purple, disposed in umbel- 

 late corymbs. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 

 843.) It is a native of the high 

 mountains of Virginia and Carolina, 

 particularly near the head waters 

 of the Catawba River, where it is 

 a shrub, about 4 ft. high, flowering 

 from June till August. Introduced 

 in 1809, and now one of the most 

 common species in gardens. It is of 

 more robust growth than either R. 

 ponticum or R. maximum, but, in Xxis^? 

 other respects, seems intermediate >^^^ 

 between them. There are many 

 hybrids in cultivation between it 

 and the former species, though with- 

 out names ; part!}' from the minuteness of the shades of distinction 

 between them, and partly from their having been raised by nurserymen wlio 

 had not sufficient influence or energy to bring them under the notice of 

 botanists. There are some very distinct varieties in the Knaphill Nursery. 

 Plants vary in price from 1^. to 3^. 



Varieties. 



• R. r. 2 Russellinmxm Bril. Fl.-Gard, 2d s., t. 91., Don's Mill., iii. 



p. 843. — Leaves oblong, finely tomentosc lieneath. C^orymbs niany- 

 flowered. Flowers of a bright rosy red, approaching to crimson. A 

 hybrid raised from the seed of R. catawbiense, impregnated b}' the 

 pollen of R. arboreum, by Mr. Russell of Battersea. It is a very 

 splendid variety, but somewhat tender. 



• R. r. 3 fiffriniim Hort. is a variety with a corolla much resembling 



that of R. c. Kussellicinuin, but with obvious spots on the inside. 



Ml 6. R. chrysa'nthum L. The golden-cowered Rhododendron. 



Iilentifieation. Lin. Syst., 405., Supp!., 237. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 843. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. iaS6. 

 Si/nonyme. li. oflScinfde Snlish., p. 121. t. 54. 



Kn«ravings. Pall. Itin. .Ajipend., p. 729. No. 87. t. n. f. 1—2. ; Fl. Ross., 1. p. 44. t. 20. ; VVoodv. Med 

 Bot., 433. t. 149. ; Salisb. Par. Lond., f. 80. ; Gmel. Sib., 4. t. 54. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves acutish, attenuated at the base, oblong, glabrous, 

 reticulately veined, and of a rusty colour beneath. Flowers and buds 

 clothed with rusty tomentum. Pedicels hairy. Caly.x hardly any. Seg- 

 ments of the corolla rounded. Ovarium tomentose. Branches decum- 

 bent, beset with rusty stipula-formed scales. Flowers handsome, large, 

 drooping, revolute, rather irregular, yellow. Stigma .3-lobed. {Don's AIill. 

 iii. p. 844.) It is a native of Siberia, on the highest mountains ; and 

 of Caucasus, where it forms a low evergreen undershrub, growing from 



4 F ' 



