386 RHODODENDRON 



shorter than the corolla, downy at the base ; ovary clothed with a white 

 felt ; style smooth, much longer than the stamens. 



Native of the Himalaya up to 14,000 ft. ; very rare in cultivation, but 

 existing in the open ground in Miss A. Mangles' collection at Littleworth, 

 near Farnham, also at Kew (under glass). It is a rhododendron of great 

 beauty and distinctness in its pale yellow flowers, which are borne as many 

 as twenty together in rather loose heads. 



R. WILSONS, Hemsley and Wilson. 



An evergreen shrub, up to 6 or 7 ft. high, with smooth, slender branches. 

 Leaves narrowly oval or oval-lanceolate ; 2^ to 4^ ins. long, i to if ins. wide ; 

 narrowly tapered at the base, acuminate at the apex, smooth on both surfaces, 

 rather glossy above, pale beneath, the texture leathery or even hardish ; stalk 

 up 1 to \ in. long. Flowers slightly fragrant,' produced singly from a scaly bud 

 in the axil of each leaf at the end of the shoot, four or six in all ; pale purple, 

 about 2 ins. across ; corolla funnel-shaped at the base, deeply five-lobed, the 

 upper lobe spotted with brown. Stamens ten, hairy at the base. Style and 

 ovary glabrous, the latter long and slender. Calyx five-lobed, the lobes 

 curiously diverse in length, some being quite short, others linear and up to 

 \ in. long. Plower-stalk glabrous, f to i in. long. 



Native of Hupeh, China ; introduced by Wilson about 1903. Although 

 the collector spoke highly of it in a wild state, it has not yet proved 

 ornamental in cultivation. 



R. WlLTONII, Hemsley and Wilson. 



An evergreen shrub, 5 to 8 ft. high ; young shoots clothed with a thick, 

 brown wool. Leaves obovate, tapered at the base, abruptly narrowed at the 

 apex to a short tip ; 2 to 3^ ins. long, f to \\ ins. wide ; glossy green and 

 deeply wrinkled above ; thickly clothed beneath with brown wool ; stalk 

 about \ in. long. Flowers pink, borne in a cluster of six or more ; corolla 

 bell-shaped, i|- ins. deep, rather more wide, the five lobes almost erect. 

 Stamens ten, shorter than the corolla, downy towards the base ; flower-stalk 

 (i to \\ ins. long), and ovary covered with pale brown wool ; pistil quite 

 smooth ; calyx very small. Seed-vessel i in. long, \ in. wide. 



Introduced by Wilson from W. China in 1904. * Although found at 10,000 

 ft. altitude, and therefore capable of withstanding great frost, it has proved 

 so far to be liable to injury from late frosts by starting into growth early. 

 A very distinct species on account of its shining, deeply wrinkled leaves, and 

 the pale brown wool that covers the various younger parts. 



R. YANTHINUM, Franchet. 



(R. Benthamianum, Hemsley.) 



An evergreen shrub, 4 to 6 ft. high, with scaly young shoots. Leaves 

 aromatic, oval or ovate ; i to 2 ins. long, ^ to i in. wide ; pointed, broadly 

 tapered or rounded at the base ; dark green, minutely wrinkled, and slightly 

 scaly above, brown with scales beneath ; leaf-stalk j in. or less long. Flowers 

 four to eight in a truss, pale purple, with brown blotches on the upper side 

 of the corolla, which is broadly bell-shaped and 2 ins. across, scaly outside. 

 Calyx with linear-lanceolate lobes, \ to \ in. long, and like the flower-stalk, 

 scaly. Stamens ten, about as long as the corolla, bearded with white hairs 

 near the base ; ovary scaly ; style quite smooth. 



Native of Central China ; introduced by Wilson in 1901. It belongs to 



