RHODODENDRON 385 



with glistening scales. Leaves i^ to 3 ins. long, i to I in. wide ; narrowly 

 oval, tapering at both ends, dark green and smooth above; stalk to J in. 

 long. Flowers i^ to if ins. across, blush-coloured, produced in April singly 

 or in pairs from each one of several axillary buds near the apex of the twigs ; 

 corolla with a tube f in. long, and five rounded, spreading lobes ; calyx cup- 

 shaped, with five rounded lobes ; stamens ten to twelve, hairy at the base ; 

 flower-stalk very short. 



Native of Sikkim and Bhotan ; introduced about 1849, n w rare in cultiva- 

 tion. It is perhaps not quite hardy in our average climate, but I have seen 

 it thriving in Mr Osgood Mackenzie's garden, near Poolewe, on the coast of 

 Ross-shire, where it flowers in June and July. It is interesting botanically, in 

 belonging to the same group as dauricum and mucronulatum, which produce 

 their flowers usually singly from buds crowded near the top of the shoots. 



R. VISCOSUM, Torrey. SWAMP HONEYSUCKLE. 

 (Azalea viscosa, Linnaus.} 



A deciduous shrub of bushy habit, eventually 6 to 8 ft. high, with twiggy 

 branches, hairy when young. Leaves thinly arranged along the shoot or in 

 a tuft of five or six at the end ; obovate, I to 2 ins. long, tapering to a short 

 stalk at the base ; dark green and smooth above, paler and bristly along the 

 midrib beneath; margins bristly. Flowers . white or pink, produced during 

 June and July at the end of the previous year's shoots, six to twelve together 

 in a cluster ; corolla i to I \ ins. long, the lower half is a narrow tube often 

 more highly coloured, the upper half five expanded oblong lorjes f in. long. 

 The whole corolla, but especially the tubular part, is covered with sticky hairs. 

 Calyx small, and like the slender flower-stalk, glandular-hairy. Seed-vessel 

 | in. long, curved, hairy. 



Native of Eastern N. America ; introduced in 1734, and still one of the 

 most delightful of garden shrubs because of its late blossoming and its 

 exquisitely fragrant flowers. It is the reputed parent, or one of the parents 

 of a great number of garden azaleas. Loddiges in their catalogue for 1836 

 gave a list of one hundred and seven varieties, which, according to Loudon, 

 were hybrids or varieties of R. viscosum. The identity of many of these old 

 varieties is lost, but some are still to be obtained under their old names. 

 Comparatively few, however, show any viscosum " blood," but rather that of 

 nudiflorum and calendulaceum. The viscosum group at the present time is, 

 as a matter of fact, a rather limited one, but is well distinguished by the 

 lateness in flowering, strong fragrance, and the viscous blossoms. 



Var. GLAUCUM (Azalea glauca). The swamp honeysuckle is variable in a 

 wild state, more especially in the colour of the flowers and leaves. This is 

 its most distinct variety, with pure white, fragrant flowers, and leaves blue- 

 white on the lower, or sometimes on both, surfaces. A very charming shrub, 

 flowering late like the type. 



R. WlGHTll, Hooker fil. 



(Gardeners' Chronicle, 1911, ii., fig. 121.) 



An evergreen shrub of bushy habit, and up to 10 ft. high, with very 

 leathery, dark green leaves, 6 to 8 ins., sometimes more, long, 2^ to 3 ins. 

 wide ; covered beneath with a reddish brown felt. Flowers bell-shaped, 

 pale yellow, blotched on the upper side with crimson ; about \\ ins. across, 

 the five lobes shallow, notched, and reflexed. Calyx-lobes five, shallow, broadly 

 triangular, and like the flower-stalk, which is i J ins. long, hairy ; stamens ten, 



