362 RHODODENDRON 



high, and as much as 20 ft. through, the young shoots covered with the 

 appressed, awl-shaped bristles characteristic of its group. Leaves i| to 3^- 

 ins. long, narrowly obovate or oval, tapering at the base, bright green", 

 bristly on both surfaces. Flowers solitary or in pairs at the end of the 

 previous year's twigs ; corolla open bell-shaped, red in the original form, 

 2 to 3 ins. across; stamens five to ten, anthers purple. Single-flowered forms 

 grow exceedingly well in the Cornish gardens, but are not quite hardy near 

 London. 



Var. BALSAMIN^EFLORUM. A miniature variety usually a few inches high, 

 known also as " rosaeflorum." Leaves | to I in. long, ^ to ^ in. wide ; glossy 

 green above, grey beneath, bristly on both surfaces ; flowers double, salmon 

 red. It has lived out-of-doors for many years at Kew, but prefers a milder 

 climate. A pretty rock garden plant. 



Var. OBTUSUM (R. obtusum, Planchon) has obovate leaves f to i^ ins. 

 long, half or more than half as wide. It is a dwarf plant, the flowers bright 

 red; stamens five, anthers yellow. There is a white form, OBTUSUM ALBUM. 

 Only hardy in the south-west, etc. 



R. INTERMEDIUM, Tausch. ROSE DES ALPES. 



Between R. ferrugineum and hirsutum there is a series of hybrid forms, 

 uniting the two. They vary in the scaliness of the under-surface of the leaf, 

 in the degree of bristliness on the leaf-margins and young shoots, and in 

 the length of the calyx-lobes. The commonest and most intermediate form 

 is R. intermedium itself, found in the Tyrol. Its leaves are very scaly beneath, 

 but not so much so as in R. ferrugineum, and the margins are slightly bristly. 

 Closely allied to this are 



R. HALENSE, Gremblick, which, however, leans more to ferrugineum ; and 



R. HIRSUTIFORME, Gremblich^ which in the scaliness of the leaves resembles 



R. ferrugineum, but in the hairiness of the leaf-margin and in the long 



calyx-lobes very nearly approaches hirsutum. R. intermedium and R. hirsuti- 



forme usually inhabit calcareous localities. 



R. IN TRIG ATOM, Franchet. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8163.) ' 



A dwarf evergreen shrub, usually 6 to 12 ins. high, perhaps ultirnately 

 1 8 ins. ; young shoots scurfy, with reddish scales. Leaves roundish ovate, 

 \ to \ in. -long, half or more than half as wide, dark green above, pale beneath, 

 both" surfaces covered with glistening scales ; leaf-stalk distinctly formed, 

 but only ^ in. long. Flowers in terminal trusses of frequently five or six ; 

 each flower in. across, violet-purple in the bud state, becoming paler and 

 lilac-coloured after opening ; corolla with a short tube and five rounded, 

 spreading lobes ; calyx-lobes five, short, triangular. Stamens ten, almost 

 entirely included within the corolla-tube, downy at the base. 



Native of Szechuen, W. China, at 11.000 to 15,000 ft. ; introduced by 

 Wilson for Messrs Veitch in 1904, and one of the most dainty of recent 

 acquisitions. This rhododendron makes a neat little bush of rounded form 

 suggesting a pygmy tree, and it flowers when only a few inches high ; this, 

 together with the colour of the flowers and the profusion in which they are 

 borne, render it a singularly attractive little plant for the rock garden or 

 some such place, where tiny, slow-growing plants are not in danger of 

 being smothered by stronger ones. Coming' from high alpine regions, it 

 is quite hardy. Increased by cuttings of firm young twigs. Under the 

 name of "nigro-punctatum," a near alley, this species was given a first- 



