RHODODENDRON 361 



long, 3 to 4 ins. wide ; very leathery, dark green and glossy above, with 

 brownish red down beneath ; stalk very thick, I to 2 ins. long. Flowers 

 rosy lilac, ii to 2 ins. across, packed in a rounded truss about 6 ins. wide ; 

 corolla bell-shaped, with eight to ten lobes ; stamens about twice as many, 

 shorter than the corolla ; calyx very small ; ovary and flower-stalk downy. 



Native of Nepal and Sikkim ; introduced in 1849. It is one of the noblest 

 of all rhododendrons in its foliage. Sir Joseph Hooker observed that its 

 leaves are sometimes 18 ins. long. It is not, so far as I know, hardy near 

 London, but thrives in the milder counties. 



R. HOULSTONII, Hemsley and Wilson. 



(R. Fortune! var. Houlstonii, Rehder^) 



An evergreen shrub up to 12 ft. high, with stout, smooth branchlets. 

 Leaves oblong or slightly- obovate, 3 to 6 ins. long, f to 2 ins. wide ; narrowed 

 abruptly at the apex to a short point ; tapered or rounded at the base ; both 

 surfaces perfectly smooth, the upper one dark green, the lower very pale ; 

 stalk purple, \ to i^ ins. long. Flowers (not seen in cultivation) described as 

 eight or more in a truss, flesh-pink, about 3 ins. across. Corolla widely bell- 

 shaped, seven-lobed ; stamens twelve or fourteen, with smooth stalks ; summit 

 of ovary and base of style hairy-glandular ; flower-stalk glandular, i in. or 

 more long. 



Native of W. Hupeh, China ; discovered and introduced about 1900, by 

 Wilson. It is very closely allied to R. Fortunei, especially in the smooth, 

 purple-stalked leaves and seven-lobed corolla, but differs in the glandular 

 style and ovary, and the hairy style. 



R. HYPOGLAUCUM, Hemsley. 



An evergreen shrub up to 10 ft. high. Leaves stiff and leathery, oval, 

 inclined sometimes to obovate, 2 to 4 ins. long, I to \\ ins. wide, rather 

 abruptly tapered to a short point, wedge-shaped at the base ; upper surface 

 dark green and smooth, lower surface covered with a very close white scurf ; 

 stalk |- to in. long, wrinkled. Flowers (not seen in cultivation) white, 

 produced eight to ten in a truss ; corolla widely funnel-shaped, if ins. wide, 

 scarcely so deep, with five rounded lobes ; stamens ten or twelve, their stalks 

 smooth except at the base. Flower-stalk i to i^ ins. long, and, like the 

 small, bluntly five-lobed calyx, glandular-downy. Seed-vessel f in. long, \ in. 

 wide. 



Native of W. China ; discovered by Henry ; introduced by Wilson in 1900. 

 Very distinct in the whiteness of the leaf beneath. If the plants now grown 

 under this name are true, the species would not appear to be so vigorous and 

 hardy as most of the Chinese species. According to Wilson, the calyx and 

 flower-stalk are sometimes glabrous. 



R. INDICUM, Sweet. 



(Azalea indica, Linnceus.) 



It would be difficult at the present day to say exactly what the typical 

 R. indicum is. The species in its various forms has long been cultivated for 

 its flowers in China and Japan, and was first introduced to England in 1808. 

 It is best known as a common greenhouse shrub, producing in spring a 

 great profusion of single or double flowers of almost every shade, varying from 

 rich red, scarlet, rose and pink, to white. It is an evergreen shrub up to 6 ft. 

 II 2 A 



