RHODODENDRON 383 



i 



of almost as brilliant a red as Thomsoni itself and produced early in May, 

 are quite hardy. 



R. TSCHONOSKII, Maximowics. 



(Azalea Tschonoskii, 0. Kuntze.} 



A semi-evergreen shrub, 2 ft. or perhaps more high, with rather horizontal 

 branches, the young shoots covered with appressed, dark brown, linear bristles 

 pointing towards the end of the shoot. Leaves in a tuft at the end of the 

 twig; \ to \\ ins. long, \ to in. wide, oval, tapering and pointed; upper 

 surface dull, "dark green, lower one pale, both covered with bristly hairs. 

 Flowers white, \ i:i. across, produced two to four together, each on a bristly 

 stalk so short that the flower is almost hidden in the tuft of leaves ; corolla 

 downy inside, funnel-shaped ; stamens five ; calyx covered with bristles. 



Native of Japan ; introduced by Maries in 1888. This curious little 

 azalea is of the same group as R. indicum, but is the most insignificant of 

 them. It is only worth cultivating by lovers of curiosities. Propagated 

 by cuttings. 



R. UNGERNI, Trautvetter. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8332.) 



An evergreen shrub or small tree, up to 20 ft. high in a wild state ; young 

 shoots downy. Leaves narrow oblong, 3 to 6 ins. long, one-third as wide ; 

 tapering at the base, the apex ending in a short, abrupt point ; smooth above, 

 but covered beneath with pale brownish wool ; stalk f in. long. Flowers 

 pale rose, ij to 2 ins. across, produced in large trusses 6 ins. through. 

 Corolla broadly bell-shaped, with five rounded, slightly notched lobes. Calyx- 

 lobes five, lanceolate, covered with glandular hairs ; stamens ten, with 

 gland-tipped hairs towards the base. 



Native of the Caucasus ; introduced to cultivation in 1886 by way of the 

 St Petersburg Botanic Garden, having been discovered the previous year by 

 Baron Ungern-Sternberg. It has not yet been much cultivated out-of-doors, 

 but is quite hardy. I have seen it growing outside in a nursery near Berlin, 

 where the winters are much more trying to evergreens than ours. It was 

 discovered and introduced at the same time as R. Smirnowi, with which it is 

 often confounded. The leaves differ only in having the mucronate tip 

 alluded to above ; the petals, however, are not frilled as in Smirnowi, the 

 calyx-lobes are longer and more pointed, and the flower-stalks -are very 

 glandular-hairy. 



R. VASEYI, A. Gray. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8081 ; Azalea Vaseyi, Rehder.) 



A deciduous shrub, attaining heights of 12 to 15 ft. in a wild state, bushy. 

 Leaves linear-oval, very tapering at both ends ; 2 to 4 ins. long, ^ to i^ ins. 

 wide ; at first sparsely bristly, becoming smooth ; upper surface lustrous, 

 hairy on the midrib and at the edges ; stalk in. or less long. Flowers 

 i ins. across, clear pale pink, produced before the leaves in early May, 

 four to eight together in a terminal cluster ; corolla lobes oblong, the three 

 upper ones spotted with red-brown at the base ; calyx very small, with 

 minute lobes, and covered with glands like the flower-stalk, which is $ in. 

 long ; stamens normally five, smooth ; ovary glandular. 



Native of the mountains of the Carolinas ; introduced to Kew in 1891 ; 

 first discovered in 1878 by Mr G. R. Vasey on Balsam Mountain, N. Carolina. 

 It is remarkable that so beautiful a shrub should so long have escaped 



