DECANDRIA. 149 



It grows eight or ten feet high; leaves ovate elliptical, and 

 leathery ; flowers pale red, or sometimes nearly white, and 

 in dense terminal corymbs. When in flower, it is among our 

 gayest native shrubs. The leaves are undoubtedly poison- 

 ous. A few drops of the tincture poured on a rattlesnake, 

 ( Crotalus horridus,) is said to have killed the reptile in a short 

 time. 



GENUS Rhododendron. Name, from the Greek, rhodon, a 

 rose, and dendron, a tree, because the flowers resemble, in 

 color, bunches of roses. The species are superb evergreen 

 shrubs. 



There is a considerable number of species, and several va- 

 rieties of this plant, four of which are natives of North 

 America. The Rosebay Laurel, (Rhododendron maximum,) a 

 native of the Middle and Northern States, rises to the height 

 of twenty feet, and is not surpassed in elegance or beauty by 

 any American shrub. The leaves are large, oblong, smooth, 

 leathery, and of a deep green ; flowers in pink colored ter- 

 minal umbels, which are large and compact. It may be prop- 

 agated by the seeds, or roots. 



ORDER II. DIGYNIA. Stamens 10, Styles 2. 



GENUS Hydrangea. Name, from udor, water, and aggeion, 

 a vessel. The garden species, from which the genus appears 

 to have been named, is a marsh plant, and thrives best where 

 there is much water. Loudon says, that a large plant, in 

 summer, will consume ten or twelve gallons of water per day. 

 The Changeable Hydrangea, (H. Hortensis,) is much ad- 

 mired on account of its profusion of pink flowers, and is a 

 common shrub in our gardens. The flowers, like those of 

 the Snowball, are monsters, producing no seed. It is said 

 that this plant will produce blue flowers by watering the 

 young plant the year before with alum water. 



This plant has not been found by any botanist in its wild 

 state, but is extensively cultivated in the gardens of China, 

 and Japan, from whence it was introduced into England, by 

 Sir Joseph Banks, in 1788. 



GENUS Dianthus. Pink. Name, from the Greek, Dios, 

 and anthos, divine flower, so named on account of its pre-emi- 

 nent beauty and fragrance. Of this beautiful genus there are 

 about fifty species, most of which are cultivated, and many 



What does the word rhododendron signify ? What is said of the genus 

 hydrangea 1 Whence does the dianthus derive its name ? 

 13* 



