RHODODENDRON 371 



Veitch about 1851. This beautiful azalea is the only species of its section 

 found west of the Rocky Mountains. It has many points of resemblance to, 

 and appears to be the Western representative of, R. arborescens, but has larger 

 yellow-blotched flowers and its foliage is quite hairy beneath ; the calyx also 

 is shorter. It does not blossom until the great azalea season is over, or until 

 the shrub is in almost full leaf. It is one of the best summer-flowering 

 shrubs, although it has taken horticulturists a long time to find it out. In 

 1857, Lindley, then the high priest of gardening, pronounced it to be "of 

 little value." Mr Waterer of Knap Hill, and Mr Koster of Boskoop, by 

 crossing it with the bright-coloured azaleas that flower earlier, have laid the 

 foundation of a beautiful race of late-flowering varieties. 



R. OVATUM, Planchon. 



(Azalea ovata, Lindley ; Bot. Mag., t. 5064.) 



An evergreen shrub of bushy habit, 2 to 4 ft., perhaps more, high ; young 

 wood, leaf-stalks, and midrib on the upper side downy. Leaves dark green 

 and glossy, ovate, pointed, the base tapered or rounded ; f to 2^ ins. long, 

 to i j ins. wide ; stalk \ to f in. long. Flowers solitary from buds near the 

 end of the preceding year's shoots, produced about the end of May ; pale 

 purple to pink, specked with darker spots on the upper lobe of the corolla, 

 i in. across, flat and open ; stamens five ; calyx-lobes oblong, ^ in. long, 

 with glandular hairs on the margin ; flower-stalk to \ in. long, glandular- 

 hairy. 



Native of China ; introduced about 1844 by Fortune, and latterly by 

 Wilson from Hupeh. The colour of the flowers varies from almost white to 

 pink and purplish. Exceedingly rare in gardens. It is allied to the West 

 American albiflorum, but that species has ten stamens. It must not be 

 confounded with the R. ovatum of gardens, which is the same as R. myrti- 

 folium a hybrid between hirsutum and punctatum (see under punctaluni). 



R. PACHYTRICHUM, Franchet. 



An evergreen shrub or small tree up to 20 ft. high ; young shoots con- 

 spicuously furnished with a dense coat of brown, curly bristles ^ in. long. 

 Leaves 3 to 6 ins. long, I to 2 ins. wide ; narrowly oblong or inclined to 

 obovate, abruptly narrowed at the apex to a short fine point, rounded at the 

 base ; dark green and soon smooth above, bristly on the margins at first, and 

 on the midrib beneath ; stalk to I in. long, with the same mossy character 

 as the young shoot. Flowers white or pale rose, in compact trusses, 3 to 

 4 ins. across ; corolla \\ ins. wide, scarcely so deep, bell-shaped ; stamens 

 ten, shorter than the corolla, downy at the base ; ovary bristly ; calyx small, 

 smooth, triangular-lobed ; flower-stalk mossy, f in. long. 



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

 duced by Wilson for Messrs Veitch in 1903. A very distinct species allied 

 to strigillosum, but that species has rich red flowers and smooth stamens. 

 According to Wilson, R. pachytrichum occurs up to TO,OOO ft. altitude, so is, 

 no doubt, capable of withstanding great winter cold, but it appears to be 

 spring tender. 



R. PARVIFOLIUM, Adams. 



An evergreen shrub of sparse habit and thin, wiry, erect or spreading 

 branches, 2 ft. to 3 ft. high ; young wood scurfy. Leaves slightly aromatic 

 when crushed ; \ to f in. long, \ to \ in. wide ; narrowly oblong-obovate, 

 dark green above, pale beneath, scaly on both sides. Flowers rosy purple, 



