Ili6 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



App. i. Half -hay (li) Species of ^hododhidroji [and Azalea). 



Evergreen trees, natives of the 



§ i. Booram. 



Derivation. The name of R. arbbreum in Nepal. 

 Sect. Char., SfC. ' Limb of calyx 5-Iobed. Corolla campaiiulate. 

 Himalayas, and other mountainous regions of northern India. 



A. Species alreadi/ introduced into British Gardens, 



i 28. R. arbo'reum Smith. The scarlct-Jfowered Tree Rhododendron. 



Identification. Smith Exot. Bot., t. G. ; Hook. Exot. Fl., 158. ; Don's Mill., J. p. 844. 



Sunonume. R. purpiireum Hamilt. >tSS. 



Engravings. Smith Exot. Bot, t. 6. ; Lindl. Bot Reg., t 896. ; and oar fig. 951. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves htnceolate, acute, silvery beneath, tai)ering to the 

 base. Peduncles and calyxes woolly. Segments of corolla 2-lobed, with 

 crenulated curled mar- 



gins. Capsules 10-celled, 

 tomentose. Leaves 4 — 6 

 in. long. Flowers large. 



951 



scarlet, dotted with black 

 on the up|)er lip inside, 

 disposed in dense heads. 

 Stigma capitate, crenn- 

 lated. (Don's Mi//., iii. 

 p. 844.) A tree, 20 ft. 

 high, very showy when in 

 blossom ; a native of Ne- 

 pal, on the mountains at 

 Narainhetty, where it is 

 called booram by the 

 natives. It was intro- 

 duced in 1817, and flowers, in conservatories, in April and May. Plants 

 in Knight's Exotic Nursery, sown there in 1821, are now, in 183G, 18 ft. 

 high, with trunks 8 in. in diameter : they grow in pots 2 ft. in diameter, 

 and flower abundantly every year, or every other year. These flowers 

 secrete honey to such an extent, that, when the plant is shaken, it falls 

 from them like large drops of rain ; and Mr. Knight informed us that he 

 believed each head of flowers would yield from a teaspoonfid to a dessert- 

 spoonful at a time. After being exhausted, a fresh sup[)ly is secreted ; so 

 that the quantity that one head might produce, if the tree were frequently 

 shaken, appears to be limited only by the duration of the flowers. 

 Varieties and Ili/tjrids. 



I R. o. 1 saiiguineuni Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 890., has the corollas blood- 

 coloured, and may be considered as the species. Those spoken of 

 above are of this kind. 

 i R. a. 2 roseum Swt. Brit. Fl.-Gard., 2d ser. t. 389., Bot Reg., t. 

 1240 , has rosy-coloured corollas. This variety was raised by Mr. 

 Smith, at Combe House, in 1819, from Nepal seeds, and the plants 

 flowered when they were not more than 2 ft. high. According to 

 Dr. Waliich, li. a. roseum occurs with B. a. niveum on the moun- 

 tain of Sheopore, at an elevation of 10,000 ft. above the level of 

 the sea. It is likelj', therefore, to be less tender than R. arboreum 

 sanguineum, which is found at a much lower elevation, and it may 

 ultimately prove to be quite hardy. There are plants of this sort 

 at Mr. Knight's and Messrs. Loddiges's. 

 J R. a. 3 niveiim Swt. ; R. album Hami/t. MSS., Swt. F/.-Gard., t. 148., 

 Don's MU/., iii. p. 844. ; R. arboreum floribus nfveis D. Don Prod. 

 F/. Ncp., p. 154. ; R. arboreum album \Va//. P/. A.iiat. Rur., ii. t. 123. ; 

 has white flowers spotted with purple on the upper li[). Dr. Lindley, 

 speaking of this variety, says, " Never did we behold any flower 



