RHODODENDRON 



381 



Native of Yunnan, China ; discovered by the Abbe Delavay, and intro- 

 duced to France by Mr Maurice de Vilmorin in 1907, thence to Kevv in 1910. 

 I am afraid from what has been said to me by Mr Forrest, that this remark- 

 able rhododendron will only be hardy in Cornwall and similar localities. In 

 the tubular shape of the corolla, which narrows rather than expands towards 

 the mouth, the species resembles 

 the rare R. Keysii. It first 

 flowered at Kew in a cold frame 

 in the spring of 1911. It is also 

 in Mr J. C. Williams' collection 

 at Caerhays. 



R. STRIGILLOSUM, 

 Franchet. 



An evergreen shrub or small 

 tree, up to 20 ft. high, the young 

 shoots and leaf -stalks clothed 

 thickly with stiff, whitish, gland- 

 tipped bristles \ in. long, which 

 persist partially through the first 

 winter. Leaves narrowly ob- 

 long-lanceolate, slender-pointed, 

 heart-shaped at the base ; 3 to 

 6 ins. long, to \\ ins. wide ; 

 dull green and glabrous above, 

 clothed with brown hairs beneath, especially on the midrib ; stalk \ to 

 in. long. Flowers rich red, bell-shaped, i^ ins. long, and wide ; stamens 

 ten, perfectly smooth. Flower-stalk, calyx, and seed-pod bristly like the 

 branchlets. 



Native of W. China and Thibet ; introduced by Wilson for Messrs Veitch 

 in 1904. A striking plant because of the bristliness of the various parts. 

 The rich red flowers should make it welcome if it will thrive, but whilst young 

 at least it is rather spring tender. Wilson observes that the flowers vary from 

 crimson to pure white. 



KHODODENDRON SPINULIFKRUM. 



R. SUBLANCEOLATUM, MiqueL 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 8478.) 



An evergreen azalea of the indicum group, stiffly branched, bushy, 

 probably up to 6 ft. high, the branchlets having the dark forward-pointing 

 bristles of this group. Leaves I to 3 ins. long, \ to i^ ins. wide ; oblanceolate, 

 or oval, tapered at the base, terminated by a short mucro ; smooth and dark 

 green above, paler -and with dark appressed hairs like those of the stem 

 beneath and on the margins ; stalk \ to in. long. Flowers often three in a 

 cluster, broadly funnel-shaped ; the corolla varies in shade from purplish 

 red to the richest blood-red ; T.\ to 3 ins. wide, 2 ins. long ; the lobes five, 

 rounded, and about in. wide ; calyx-lobes obovate, rounded at the apex, 

 hairy on the margins, -^V, to \ in. long ; stamens ten, nearly as long as the 

 corolla, downy towards the base ; style smooth ; flower-stalk hairy. 



Nativejof Japan ; introduced about 1909 by Mr Notcutt, of Woodbridge. 

 Its best forms are some of the richest coloured of all azaleas, but it is not 

 very hardy, and needs a slightly warmer climate than that of Kew It differs 

 from R. indicum in the calyx being smooth except at the margins, and in the 

 more rounded calyx-lobes. The stamens, too, are almost invariably ten. 



