RHODODENDRON 



351 



R. CINNABARINUM, Hooker fit. 



An evergreen shrub, 6 to 10 ft. high, somewhat thin and sparse of habit, 

 the branches long and slender, scaly when young. Leaves 2 to 4 ins. long, 

 | to \\ ins. broad ; oval, tape-ring about equally to each end, smooth, and of 

 a greyish green metallic lustre above, scaly beneath, and varying in colour 

 from glaucous green to reddish- brown ; stalk A in. long. Flowers funnel- 



RHODODENDRON CINNABARINUM. 



shaped, and like those of Lapageria, i^ to 2 ins. long, very variable in colour ; 

 ordinarily of a dull cinnabar red, produced during May and June, from five 

 to eight in terminal heads. In other forms the corolla is orange-red outside, 

 yellowish within, sometimes greenish. Calyx with four short, broadish lobes, 

 and one longer narrow one, or sometimes with all five nearly equal, scaly. 

 Stamens ten, scarcely so long as the corolla, hairy at the base ; flower-stalk 

 \ in. long, scaly. 



Native of Sikkim and Bhotan ; introduced in 1849. This distinct and 

 striking species is chiefly remarkable for the variability of the colour of its 

 flowers, and the under-surface of its leaves. But the differences between 

 some of the intermediate forms are so unimportant that botanists regard them 

 all as of one species. In gardens, however, it has been found convenient to 

 distinguish three forms : 



CINNABARINUM (type). Flowers cinnabar red, corolla-lobes pointed ; 

 calyx-lobes unequal, especially the upper one, which is long and narrow. 



BLANDFORDI/EFLORUM. Flowers red outside, yellow or greenish yellow 

 within (Bot. Mag., t. 4930). 



ROYLEI. Leaves glaucous beneath ; flowers intense, rosy red, shorter 

 (about 1 1 ins. long) than the two others ; calyx-lobes nearly equal in size 

 and shape. 



The leaves of all forms of cinnabarinum are believed to be poisonous to 

 browsing animals. 



