RHODODENDRON 367 



fur-like covering of the young shoots is very marked, as is also the large 

 petaloid calyx, about i in. across, glandular and hairy. 



R. LUTESCENS, Franchet. 



An evergreen shrub, 3 to 7 ft. high, of loose habit ; young shoots reddish, 

 slender, scaly. Leaves lanceolate, with a long slender point and a tapered 

 base ; \\ to 3*, ins. long, | to ij ins. wide ; dark green above, paler and more 

 scaly beneath"; stalk ^ to ^ in. long. Flowers pale yellow, produced singly 

 or occasionally in pairs from several buds at the apex of the shoot, terminal 

 and axillary ; corolla broadly funnel-shaped, i in. wide ; stamens ten, pro- 

 truded, hairy near the base. Ovary, calyx, and flower-stalk scaly, the last 

 \ in. long ; calyx scarcely lobed. 



Native of W.. China and Thibet; discovered by the Abbe David; introduced 

 by Wilson in 1904. In the curious habit of bearing usually a single flower 

 only from each bud, this species resembles dauricum and mucronulatum. 

 Its yellow flowers give it interest, but opening, as they do, in March, they often 

 perish by frost. Wilson's later introductions of this species seem hardier than 

 his first. He observes that it grows in full sunshine. 



R. MAXIMUM, Linnceus. 



An evergreen tree, sometimes over 30 ft. high, with a short trunk i ft. in 

 diameter in a wild state, but always a shrub under cultivation in Britain, 

 and rarely more than 8 or 10 ft. high ; young wood reddish and scurfy. 

 Leaves narrowly obovate to oblong, 4 to 8 ins. long, i to i\ ins. wide ; dark 

 green above, pale beneath, becoming quite smooth on both surfaces by 

 autumn ; stalk | to i in. long, very stout. Flowers produced in a cluster 

 3 or 4 ins. across ; corolla rose-coloured or purplish pink, spotted with yellow 

 on the upper side, about \\ ins. across, the lobes rounded ; calyx with ovate, 

 rounded lobes slightly downy, ^ in. long; stamens ten, flower-stalk viscid and 

 downy, about i in. long. 



Native of the United States ; introduced in 1736, but now rarely seen in 

 gardens. Its trusses are small, but very pretty and delicate in colour. It 

 is useful, moreover, in flowering late the end of June and in July. Distinct 

 in the comparatively large calyx-lobes. 



Var. ALBUM. Flowers white ; found wild along with the type. 



R. METTERNICHII, Siebold. 



(R. japonicum, C. K. Schneider ; Bot. Mag., t. 8403.) 



An evergreen shrub, eventually 6 to 8, perhaps more, feet high ; young 

 stems stout, yellow, at first covered with a grey, loose felt ; winter buds 

 very woolly. Leaves narrowly oblong, leathery, tapering at the base, 

 bluntish at the apex ; 3 to 6 ins. long, f to ij ins. wide ; dark dull green and 

 smooth above, covered beneath with a firm, dun-coloured felt ; stalk \ to 

 2 in. long, scurfy ; midrib yellow. Corolla purplish rose, about 2 ins. wide ; 

 stamens ten to fourteen ; ovary hairy ; flower-stalk downy, pinkish, f to i in. 

 long. 



This rhododendron, which is a native of Japan, is represented there by 

 two forms : (i) var. HEPTAMERUM, in which the lobes of the corolla are six 

 or seven, and the calyx-lobes almost obsolete ; and (2) var. PENTAMERUM 

 (see Bot. Mag., t. 8403), in which the corolla-lobes are five (rarely six), stamens 

 ten, and the calyx-lobes bluntly triangular. The latter variety flowers at 

 the end of March or early in April at Kew. According to Sargent, Metter- 



