ERICACEAE 171 



HE sets the bright procession on Its way, 



And marshals all the order of the year; 



HE marks the bounds which Winter may not pass, 



And blunts his pointed fury ; in its case 



Russet and rude, folds up the tender germ, 



Uninjured, with inimitable art ; 



And ere. one flowery season fades and dies, 



Designs the blooming wonders of the next" 



2. A. micliflura, L. Young branches hairy; leaves lance- 

 oblong ; flowers somewhat hairy and slightly clammy, rather pre- 

 ceding the leaves; stamens much exserted. 

 Khododendron nudiflorum. Torr. Fl. Cestr. ed. 2. p. 262. 

 NAKED-FLOWERED AZALEA. Wild Honeysuckle. 



Stem 2 to 4 or 6 feet high, much branched toward the summit. Leaves 2 to 3 

 inches long, crowded at the extremities of the branches, margins hairy, pubescent 

 beneath ; petioles % to % an inch in length. Corotta varying firm pale flesh-color 

 to pink, and bright purple, the tube scarcely longer than the lobes. 

 Hob. Moist woods, and thickets: common. Fl. April. Fr. June. 



Obs. This pretty shrub is a striking ornament of our forests, in 

 spring. It was rather carelessly stated, in the preceding edition of 

 this Flora, that "the leaves" of this shrub "are subject to large 

 green succulent excrescences, produced by the puncture of insects." 

 In 1842, Mr. BENJAMIN V. MARSH, then of Haverford School, Del. 

 County, satisfied me that I was incorrect, and that those "excres- 

 cences" are formed of the flowers of the plant, instead of "the 

 leaves." A closer observation has also led me to doubt whether 

 "insects" have any agency in their production. I find those suc- 

 culent masses invariably to consist of what seem to be a sort of 

 dropsical enlargement of calyx, corolla, stamens and pistil, by which 

 the floral organs are all consolidated, or blended together; and 

 their original individuality, and character, entirely lost, except 

 some vestiges of anthers and stigma. 



244. RHODODENDRON, L. 



[Gr. Rhodon, a rose, and Dendron, a tree ; the flowers being in rose-colored clusters.] 

 Calyx deeply 6-parted. Corolla subcampanulate, somewhat irreg- 

 ularly 5-lobed. Stamens mostly 10, declined, scarcely exserted; 

 anthers, &c, as in Azalea. Capsule ovoid-oblong. Often stout 

 shrubs, or low trees : leaves evergreen, entire ; flowers in dense ter- 

 minal corymbs, or thyrsoid, or globose clusters. 



1. R. maximum, L. Stout; leaves oblong, acute, thick, cori- 

 aceous and glabrous, with somewhat revolute margins. 

 LARGEST RHODODENDRON. Mountain Laurel. Rose-Bay. 



Stem 6 to 10 or 12 feet high, with stout irregular branches. Leaves 3 to 6 inches 

 long, with a short acumination, often cuneately tapering at base, green above, 

 pale or ferruginous beneath ; petiole* thick, half an inch to an inch in length. 

 Flowers in dense thyrsoid or corymbose racemes ; pedicels an inch to an inch and 

 half long ; corolla pale rose-color, with greenish tinges, and yellow or orange-colored 

 epots. 

 Sab. Banks of Schuylkill : rare. Fl. June. Fr. 



Obs. This is a noble shrub ; but LINNAEUS was unfortunate in 

 calling it maximum, inasmuch as Dr. J. D. HOOKER has found a 

 species, in the Himalaya mountains, 40 to 60 feet in height. 



