374 RHODODENDRON 



pretty bush, but not one of the showier sorts, and is, perhaps, of chief interest 

 now as the parent of several useful hybrids, amongst which the following are 

 of especial interest : 



R. ARBUTIFOLIUM, Hort. (R. daphnoides). A neat shrub, 3 or 4 ft. high, 

 with dark dull green leaves (purplish in winter) covered beneath with 

 glistening minute scales, amidst which are sprinkled larger darker ones. 

 Flowers rose-coloured. The other parent is ferrugineum. 



R. MYRTIFOLIUM, Loddiges (R. ovatum, Hort., not Planchori). The other 

 parent of this is probably hirsutum. Its leaves are not of so dark a green as 

 those of arbutifolium, and the scales beneath are all of the large dark kind. 

 Flowers about I in. wide, a delicate rose. It grows 4 or 5 ft. high, and is not 

 so stiff in habit as arbutifolium. Leaves \\ to 2 ins. long, f in. wide. 



R. WlLSONi, Hort., not of Hooker. This has longer leaves than either of 

 the preceding (2^ ins. long, f in. wide) and is of freer growth, forming a dense, 

 leafy bush '5 or 6 ft. high. Flowers pale rose, ij ins. wide. A useful, neat, 

 and pretty evergreen, probably a cross with some form of R. ponticum. 



\R. QUINQUEFOLIUM, Bisset. 



A deciduous shrub of low, bushy habit, probably 2 or 3 ft. high ; shoots 

 smooth, branches erect, forked. Leaves produced in whorls of five (with 

 sometimes one or two very small ones in addition) at the end of the shoot 

 only ; broadly obovate or somewhat diamond-shaped, rounded at the apex, 

 except for a short, abrupt tip, tapering at the base to a very short bristly 

 stalk ; they vary in size in each set of five, the largest being i^ to 2 ins. long- 

 by i in. wide, the smallest not half as large ; upper surface sparsely hairy 

 when young, the lower one hairy about the margin and along the midrib ; 

 both sides pale green, often with a purplish margin. Flowers solitary or in 

 pairs, produced with the young leaves from the terminal bud ; corolla broadly 

 funnel-shaped, i^ ins. across, pinkish or white, the lobes ovate ; calyx-lobes 

 short, triangular ; stamens ten, hairy at the base ; flower-stalk i in. long, hairy. 



Native of Japan ; discovered by Mr Bisset in 1876 ; introduced about 

 twenty years later by Lord Redesdale. This azalea is most distinct and 

 attractive in its foliage, especially in spring when the leaves are of a tender 

 green bordered with purple, each whorl of five forming an umbrella-like group 

 at the top of a slender twig. It flowers in April. 



R. RACEMOSUM, Franchet. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 7301.) 



An evergreen shrub, at least 5 or 6 ft. high, of tufted habit when young 

 and small, but, when well established in good soil, sending up vigorous erect 

 shoots, 12 ins. or more long in a year ; young wood scaly. Leaves f to \\ ins. 

 long, about half as wide, obovate or oval, rounded or abruptly tapering at 

 both ends, thickly dotted beneath with brownish scales on a vividly glaucous 

 surface. Flowers produced in April and May in axillary and terminal clusters, 

 from three to twelve in a cluster. Corolla soft pink, i to i ins. across, widely 

 bell-shaped, the tube shorter than the five oblong rounded lobes ; calyx 

 minute, and like the flower-stalk covered with scales; stamens ten, downy at 

 the base. 



Native of W. China, first raised in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris in 1889 ; 

 where I saw it in November and brought to Kevv some seedlings. The seed 

 had been gathered and sent to Paris by Pere Delavay. It has since proved 

 one of the most distinct and pretty of the dwarfer Chinese rhododendrons. 

 Its most remarkable feature is the production of flowers from the leaf-axils 



