357 



AZALEA. 



AZURITE. 



358 



or other of which all the species are referrible namely, 1, those with 

 glutinous flowers and short stamens ; 2, those with glutinous flowers 

 and stamens much longer than the corolla ; 3, those with flowers that 

 are scarcely at all glutinous, and stamens much longer than the corolla ; 

 and 4, those with flowers that are scarcely at all glutinous, and short 

 stamens. 



Section I. Flowers covered with numerous glutinous hairs. Stamens 

 little or not at all longer than the tube of the corolla. 



1. Azalea riscosa, Linn. (A. odorata, vtitata, fssa, lucida of various 

 authors). Leaves shining, green on both sides, fringed at the edge. A 

 native of swamps, copses, and wet and shady woods, throughout the 

 United States of North America, from Canada to Georgia. It is a shrub 

 from 3 to 8 feet high, with the young branches covered with numerous 

 stiffish brown hairs. The leaves are bright green, shining, and smooth 

 on the upper side ; paler but not at all glaucous on the under side. The 

 flowers are deliciously fragrant, usually white or nearly so, with a 

 long narrow tube, and a contracted limb with narrow sharp-pointed 

 divisions ; they are covered all over externally with glutinous brownish- 

 purple glands. The stamens are not so long as the segments of the 

 corolla, but longer than its tube. It is one of the most common 

 species and the most fragrant. 



2. Azalea glauca, Lamarck. Leaves dull green, somewhat wrinkled 

 and wavy at the edge, glaucous on the under side, fringed at the edge. 

 Found in clayey swamps in the middle states of North America, where 

 it flowers rather earlier than the last. In a wild state it is a much 

 rarer plant, and does not grow so tall ; its white flowers appear in the 

 utmost profusion, and are very like those of A. vticosa, but the stamens 

 are a little longer. In the nurseries it is called A. viscosa Jloribunda. 



Section II. Flowers covered with numerous glutinous hairs. Stamens 

 much longer than the c<j/'"H>i. 



3. Azalea nitida, Pursh. Branches with very few hairs. Leaves 

 small, rather leathery, shining, and smooth on both sides. Found in 

 deep mossy swamps on the mountains of North America, from the 

 state of New York to Virginia, flowering in June and July. The leaves 

 of this plant, which appear a little earlier than the flowers, are dark- 

 green, shining, and smaller than in any other species : the only parts 

 which are hairy are the midrib and the margin. The flowers are 

 white, with a red tinge, and glutinous ; their tube is a little longer 

 than the segments ; the calyx is very short ; the stamens are longer 

 than the corolla. It is doubtful whether this is to be met with in 

 cultivation. 



4. Azalea hutpida, Pursh. Branches clothed with numerous stiffish 

 hairs. Leaves long-lanceolate, covered with bloom on both sides, 

 hairy on the upper surface, and smooth on the lower. A native of the 

 borders of lakes ; and on the highest part of the Blue Ridge in the 

 state of Pennsylvania, flowering in July and August. An upright 

 shrub, growing 10 or 15 feet high, with a bluish aspect, by which it 

 may be recognised at a distance. 



5. Azalea pontica, Linn. Leaves large, not shining, puckered, 

 reflexed and wavy at the edge, green and slightly hairy on both sur- 

 faces. Flowers yellow, long-stalked, covered with long hairs and 

 glutinous glands. Common in the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the 

 eastern parts of Poland, rendering the whole country a brilliant garden 

 with its golden fragrant flowers during the month of May. Although 

 found on the mountains, it is by no means an alpine plant, but dis- 

 appears in the higher regions of the air, where the Pontic Rhododendron 

 takes its place. Its flowers abound in a fluid nectar, which is said to 

 render poisonous the honey collected by the bees at the time of its 

 blooming. It is readily known by its large yellow corolla from all 

 the American species : in the gardens it deviates to a pale straw colour, 

 which is called white by collectors. 



Section III. Flowers with scarcely any glutinous hairs. Stamens 

 much longer than the corolla. 



6. Azalea periclymma, Persoon (A. nudijlora, Willd. ; pericly- 

 menoides, Michaux ; eoccinea, tpeciosa, rubra, rntilans, carnea, alba, 

 papilumacea, partita, jinliininlfii, of the Gardens). Leaves flat, nearly 

 hairless, except the midrib, which is bristly. Tube of the corolla 

 much longer than the limb, which is white. Found wild on the sides 

 of hills, in woods all over North America, where it is called Upright 

 Honeysuckle a name which it well merits for its fragrance and 

 beauty. It is a smaller plant than A . riscosa, rarely exceeding the 

 height of a man, and being generally much shorter, and exceedingly 

 branches]. By botanists it was formerly distinguished by its flowers 

 appearing before its leaves, whence it was called A . nudijlora ; but as 

 this in an uncertain circumstance, the name we have adopted from 

 Persoon deserves the preference. Its leaves are bright green, and 



nearly smooth on the upper side, flat, and by no means puckered or 

 wavy ; their under side and the branches are slightly downy, and their 

 margin covered with stiff hairs. 



I. Azalea canescens, Michaux (A. oicolor, Pursh). Leaves hoary, 

 especially beneath, where they are also downy ; their midrib without 

 any stiff hairs. Tube of the corolla of about the length of the limb, 

 which is white. On barren sandy hills, in the southern parts of the 

 United States, on the banks of rivers in South Carolina, and on the 

 mountains of Virginia, this species grows wild ; it resembles A . pericly- 

 mena very much, but is a tenderer plant, and has the same gray 

 appearance which renders A. glauca so conspicuous an object. Its 

 flowers are small and white, with a deep rosy-red tube ; they appear 

 the earliest of the American species. 



8. Azalea calcndulacea, Michaux. Leaves convex, shining, bright 

 green, slightly hairy on both sides, reflexed and wavy at the edge ; 

 their midrib without stiff hairs. Tube of the corolla not longer than 

 the broad orange-coloured or scarlet limb. A native of moist places 

 in the southern states of North America ; sometimes inhabiting the 

 banks of rivers, but more frequently adorning the mountains with a 

 garment of living scarlet. 



9. Azalea arborescens, Pursh. Leaves covered on the under side by 

 a glaucous bloom, and smooth on both sides. Tube of corolla longer 

 than the segments. Calyx with leafy divisions. The only botanist 

 who has described this remarkable plant is Pursh, who says it grows 

 on rivxilets near the Blue Ridge in Pennsylvania, flowering from May 

 to July. He speaks of it thus : " This beautiful species has, to my 

 knowledge, not yet been introduced into the gardens. I have only 

 seen it in its native place, and in the garden of Mr. John Bartram, near 

 Philadelphia. . It rises from 10 to 20 feet high, aud forms, with its 

 elegant foliage and large abundant rose-coloured flowers, the finest 

 ornamental shrub I know. The flowers are not so much pubescent as 

 the rest of the species ; the scales of the flower-buds are large, 

 yellowish-brown, surrounded with a fringed white border." 



Section IV.' Flowers entirely destitute of glutinous hairs. Stamens 

 short. Corolla bdl-ihaped. 



10. Azalea Sinentis (A. pontica; A. Sinensis, 'Botanical Register,' 

 plate 1253). Leaves downy on both sides, sharp-pointed, glaucous 

 beneath, reflexed and wavy at the edges. Flowers covered externally 

 only with a fine silkiness ; their tube much shorter than the bell- 

 shaped limb, the divisions of which are acute. Introduced from China 

 by the late Mr. W. Wells, of Redleaf, about the year 1826, and supposed 

 to be a native of that country. Its leaves are very like those of Azalea 

 pontica, except that they are glaucous underneath, and its flowers are 

 of a bright clear ochry yellow ; it is even supposed to be a mere 

 variety of that species. Its bell-shaped corolla, however, without any 

 glandular or other conspicuous hairs on the outside, and with scarcely 

 any tube, distinguishes it sufficiently. The segments of the corolla are 

 broadly ovate, slightly wavy, and the upper one is distinctly dotted in 

 the manner of a rhododendron. 



II. Azalea Indica, Linnteus. Leaves obovate, flat, green on both 

 sides, and very abundantly clothed with stiffish brown hairs. Flowers 

 quite smooth externally ; their tube much shorter than the bell-ahaped 

 limb, the divisions of which are rounded. Calyx small aud very 

 hispid ; stamens five. This and the following are the most beautiful 

 plants which exist in the rich flora of China, where they far exceed 

 in splendour of appearance the camellias, moutans, chrysanthemums, 

 and roses of that favoured climate. This forms a bush varying in 

 height from two to six feet, with the branches usually drooping, and 

 covered when young with rigid brown hairs. The leaves are deep 

 green, flat, and half evergreen, usually tinged with brown, in conse- 

 quence of the many brown hairs with which they are clothed. The 

 flowers are large and showy, and gaily marked with brilliant colours. 

 The calyx is very small, and closely covered with stiff hairs. There 

 are many varieties, of which the Brick Red, the Double Purple, and 

 the Variegated are the principal. 



12. Azalea ledifolia, Hooker. Leaves obovate, flat, evergreen, green 

 on both sides, and clothed with brown hairs. Flowers quite smooth 

 externally ; their tube much shorter than the bell-shaped limb, the 

 divisions of which are dilated and wavy.' Calyx with leafy acute 

 sepals ; stamens ten. A native of China, and less impatient of cold 

 than the last, from which it chiefly differs in its leafy calyx, evergreen 

 less rusty shining leaves, larger flowers, and more numerous stamens. 

 There are two varieties in the gardens, the White and the Royal 

 Purple, or Phcenicea. 



A'ZURITE, a term used by Phillips to denote Lazulite, under which 

 name this mineral is most generally described by mineralogists. 

 [LAZULITE.] It is different from Azure-Stone, by which name Lapis 

 Lazuli, the Ultramarine of painters, is sometimes known. 



