RHODODENDRON 377 



and its purple is spotted. So far as I know it is not yet in cultivation, although 

 plants under the name have several times been introduced. 



R. MARIESII, Hemsley (Bot. Mag., t. 8206), is another close ally. It is a 

 native of Central China (Hupeh), whence it was introduced to Kew in 1886 by 

 Prof. A. Henry. As it occurs below 4000 ft., it is likely to be hardy in the 

 mildest parts of the kingdom only. The, corolla has the same five deeply 

 cut lobes, the three upper ones erect, as in rhombicum, but they are con- 

 spicuously spotted at the base, and the leaf is broadest below the middle. 

 From Albrechtii it differs in the smooth corolla. All these three species have 

 ten stamens. 



R. RlRIEI, Hemsley and Wilson. 



An evergreen shrub up to 18 ft. high ; branchlets furnished with a loose 

 white scurf when quite young. Leaves narrowly oval or broadly oblanceolate, 

 3 to 6 ins. long, I to 2 ins. wide ; tapered at both ends, usually more abruptly 

 towards the apex ; smooth and green above, covered beneath with a very 

 close scurf, at first white, turning grey ; midrib yellow below. Flowers (not 

 seen in cultivation) white, 2 ins. across, in trusses of eight or more. Corolla 

 broadly bell-shaped, five-lobed ; ovary covered with pale greyish scurf ; 

 pistil smooth, nearly 2 ins. long ; flower-stalk about f in. long ; seed-vessel 

 very large, ij ins. long, : | in. wide. 



Discovered and introduced in 1904 from Mt. Omi, W. China, by Wilson. 

 Cultivated at Coombe Wood and Kew, but very rare. From the other 

 West Chinese rhododendrons with white scurf beneath the leaf (hypoglaucum 

 and argyrophyllum) this is distinguished by its large seed-vessels. 



R. ROTUNDIFOLIUM, David. 



(R. orbiculare, Decaisne,~) 



An evergreen shrub up to 6 or 9 ft. high ; young shoots stout, purplish, 

 glandular. Leaves almost orbicular, but usually somewhat longer than broad, 

 2 to 4 ins. long ; deeply auricled at the base, rounded at the apex, with a 

 minute tip formed by a slight prolongation and thickening of the midrib ; 

 quite smooth, dark green above, glaucous beneath ; stalk i^ to 2 ins. long, 

 very stout. Flowers rosy red, ten or more forming a truss 6 ins. across ; 

 flower-stalks smooth, up to 2| ins. long. Corolla 2 ins. across, widely bell- 

 shaped, seven-lobed ; calyx minute, smooth ; stamens about fourteen, smooth, 

 shorter than the corolla ; ovary glandular ; style smooth. 



Native of Szechuen, China ; introduced for Messrs Veitch by Wilson in 

 1904. A very pretty and distinct rhododendron of the same type as R. 

 Souliei, but that species is well distinguished by its large calyx and fewer 

 stamens. 



R. RUBIGINOSUM, Franchet. 



\ 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 7621.) 



A stiff-habited, erect-growing evergreen shrub, 4 to 6 ft. high, branchlets 

 becoming warty. Leaves i| to 3^ ins. long, ^ to I in. wide ; narrowly oval, 

 tapering gradually to each end ; upper surface smooth, dull green, lower one 

 covered with reddish brown scales ; stalk J to ^ in. long. Flowers in terminal 

 clusters of four to seven, produced in April and May. Corolla \\ to 2 ins. 

 wide, rosy lilac, spotted with maroon on the upper side, the tube funnel- 

 shaped, lobes wavy-margined ; calyx shallowly five-lobed, small, warty ; 

 flower-stalk in. long; stamens downy at the base. 



Native of the Tsangchan Mountain in Yunnan, S.W. China ; introduced 

 II 2 B 



