CHAP. LXIX. 



£R1CA^CE^. iiJHODODE'NDRON. 



1141 



I 



Stamens much exserted, (Don's Ml/., iii. p. 847.) A dcckluons shrub, a 

 native of North America, from Canada to Georgia, on the sides of hills ; 

 where it grows from 3 ft. to •!■ ft. high, flowering from April to June. In- 

 troduced in 1734. It is the parent of numerous varieties, and, in con- 

 junction with the preceding species, of numerous h}'brids. 



Varieties and Hj/hrids. 



at R. n. 1 coccineum D. Donj Azalea n. coccinea Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 180. ; 

 has the flowers scarlet, and the leaves lanceolate. It is a native of 

 Georgia, near Savannah. 



St R. n. 2 riitilans D. Don; A. n. riitilans Ait. Hort. Kew., p. 319. ; A. 

 ^jericlymenoides riitilans Piirsh Ft. Amer, Sept., i. p. 152. — The flow- 

 ers are deep red. Calyxes minute. 



St R. n. 3 carneum D. Don ; A. n. carnea Ait., 1. c, Ker Bot. Beg., t. 

 120. ; A. p. carnea Pursli, 1. c. — The corollas are [jale red, having the 

 tube red at the base, and the calyx foliaceous. 



at R. n. 4 album D. Don ; A. n. alba Ait., 1. c. ; A. p. alba Pnrsh ; has the 

 flowers white, and the calyx middle-sized. 



at R. n. 5 papiliondcenm D. Don, A. p. papilionacea Pursli, has reddish 

 flowers, with the lower segment white, and the calyx foliaceous. 



at R. n. 6 partifum D. Don, A. p. partita Pursli. — The flowers are pale 

 red, 5-parted, even to the base. 



at R. n. 7 poli/dndrum D. Don ; A. p. polyandra Pursli, 1. c; has flowers 

 of a rose colour, short. Stamens 10 — 20. It is found near Phila- 

 delphia. 



• R. n. 8 Govemnnum D. Don in 

 Brit. Fl.-Gard., iii. t. 263., and 

 our Jig. 944., has the branches 

 tomentosely downy. Leaves 

 evergreen or deciduous, oblong, 

 acute, downy while young, but 

 glabrous in the adult state, and 

 recurved at the apex. Tube of 

 corolla a little shorter than the 

 segments. Flowers delicate 

 light purple, disposed in terminal 

 racemose corymbs. It is a hy- 

 brid raised from the seed of A. 

 nudiflora impregnated by the 

 pollen of a hybrid raised be- 

 tween B. ponticum and B. catawbiense. This variety Mr. G. Don 

 considers as proving " clearly that /rhododendron and Azalea are 

 not generically distinct ;" {Don's JMill., iii. p. 387.) which we believe 

 to be the case, according to the canons for distinguishing genera, at 

 present in use among botanists : but, as before observed, we have 

 kept the genus Azalea distinct, for the sake of expediency, inde- 

 pendently altogether of our own private opinion, that genera ought 

 to be established on a totality of characters and properties; not 

 taking merely the form and organisation of the parts of fructifi- 

 cation. 



at R. n. 9 riibrum Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 51., has the flowers red. 



m R. n. 10 eximium D. Don was raised, in 1829, from seeds of 7i . nudiflorum 

 coccineum majus, to which pollen of 7»hododendron arboreum had 

 been applied. It resembles its female parent, having very little affinity 

 with B. arboreum, except in its evergreen leaves and decandrous 

 flowers. 



The varieties and hybrids assigned to A. nudiflora in Loddiges's Catalogue 

 for 1836 are the following : — 



4 F 4 



