EVERGREENS. 117 



to sheltered situations, these improvements are the 

 more evident. 



But independent of their intrinsic beauty, they will 

 offer great resources to the hybridiser, combining as 

 they do so many desirable qualities, necessary for plants 

 occupying exposed situations. These the Sikkim ^Rho- 

 dodendrons possess in a remarkable degree. The flower- 

 heads of many of them are very compact and globular, 

 and the texture of the blossoms thick and fleshy 

 qualities eminently calculated to resist the action of 

 rain and wind. The same may be said of their foliage. 

 The leaves are stout and leathery in texture, with 

 remarkably stout footstalks, rendering them capable 

 of resisting much rough weather. Falconer i,fulg ens, 

 and Hodgsoni have these qualities especially con- 

 spicuous. From the accounts given by Dr. Hooker of 

 their time of flowering, many of them not putting forth 

 their blossoms till June, we trust they will prove 

 much more valuable as hardy plants than the old 

 arboreum, which, however beautiful it may be, can 

 only be successfully grown out of doors in the more 

 favoured situations in Britain. Whether they will 

 retain their late-blooming qualities in this country 

 must for the present remain an open question ; but 

 as the greater part of them are perfectly hardy, if 

 they should be found to bloom earlier than we anti- 

 cipate from their natural habits, there are many 

 situations in the country where spring frosts are 

 very slightly or not at all felt, in which they may be 

 successfully grown. It is possible, that one or two of 

 the species, as Dalliousics and argenteum, may be better 



