Ornamental Sbrubs. 241 



evergreen shrubs, a beautiful plant with large ovate-lanceo- 

 late leaves of a leathery texture, and terminal clusters of 

 very showy white, or rose-colored flowers in late spring or 

 early summer. It forms a broad, bushy mass of foliage 

 and flowers, four or five feet high, sometimes more. Grows 

 in rich woods on high ground, never in swamps or water. 

 Exceptionally fine for planting among deciduous trees in 

 groves and thickets as an underbrush. 



K. augustifolia is a much smaller plant, growing in 

 large masses in shady swamps or damp woods. Fine for 

 naturalizing in similar, or somewhat dryer, positions in 

 pai'ks and gardens. 



Rhododendron or Rose Bay. All rhododendrons are 

 very ornamental shrubs, chiefly evergreen ; growing in 

 rocky woods and along streams and rivulets in mountain 

 regions. They are useful for planting in beds and masses 

 among deciduous trees to produce woodland scenery. Many 

 creeping vines and tender herbaceous plants find an ideal 

 home in the shelter of their evergreen foliage. For this 

 purpose our native species are best, as they are perfectly 

 hardy and equal any exotic form in size and beauty. H. 

 maximum is a large shrub with broadly lanceolate leaves, 

 six to ten inches long, and white or rose-colored flowers in 

 large terminal clusters. R. Catawbiense is a much smaller 

 species of a more compact and spreading habit, with leaves 

 about half as long as those of the preceding kind. Flowers 

 of large size, purple, appealing early in summer. R. Pon- 

 ticum is the rhododendron commonly grown in gardens. 

 It is, in the North, of a dwarf and compact habit, with 

 dense, dark-green foliage and bell-shaped flowers of various 



16 



