EVERGREENS. Ill 



attain great perfection ; and as their growth will be 

 rapid, the whole substance of the prepared soil will 

 quickly become matted together by the roots, effect- 

 ually preventing any further subsidence after the 

 foundation has decayed. 



In the lake at Highclere, the seat of the Earl of 

 Carnarvon, are numerous small islands from ten to 

 twenty yards in diameter, planted with Rhododendrons ; 

 many of them are twelve or fifteen feet high, present- 

 ing, in the blooming season, dense masses of flower 

 from their summits to the surface of the lake. The 

 soil of these islands is not more than eighteen inches 

 above the surface of the water. 



The natural habitat of the Rhododendron is on or 

 near the margin of morasses, or in analogous situations. 

 There are, however, remarkable exceptions. 



On the Himalayas, R. arboreum is often found 

 growing luxuriantly in the fissures of rocks, in situa- 

 tions where moisture is apparently but scantily sup- 

 plied ; and travellers w r ho have visited the regions 

 where they abound speak in warm terms of the beau- 

 tiful appearance of masses of its richly coloured 

 flowers. 



But it must not be understood that plants in such 

 situations on the Himalayas are subject to so great 

 a deficiency of moisture as is usually associated 

 with analogous situations. The air in the Rhododen- 

 dron habitats on those mountains is saturated with 

 moisture, and rains are frequent and abundant. So 

 moist, indeed, is the climate, in some of the valleys of 

 the slopes on which the Rhododendrons grow, that Rice 



