430 breck's new book op flowers. 



The best hedges we have seen were those where the 

 pLmts were placed in a single line, six inches distant from 

 each other. 



RHODODENDRON— Rose BAY. 



[The ancient Greek name, meaning rose-free.] 



Rhododendron maximum. — Great Laurel. — In the 

 Northern States this is a straggling shrub of very irregular 

 growth, but one of the most magnificent in foliage and 

 flower the country can boast of It is abundant in the 

 Middle States, and in the mountainous tracts of the South- 

 ern, but rare in New England. 



It is generally under ten feet in height in this part of 

 the country, but sometimes attains the height of twenty 

 or twenty-five feet in a less rigorous cUmate. The places 

 where it is found in New England, may be considered as 

 beyond its proper natural limits, and it is met with only 

 in Avarni swamps, under the shelter of evergreens, and 

 where the roots are protected by w;\ter, Avhich usually 

 overflows these places. 



The flower-buds are often destroyed, even when it is 

 thus situated, in very severe seasons. When the leaves 

 are beginning to unfold themselves they are rose-colored, 

 and covered with red down. When fully expanded, they 

 are smooth, five or six inches long, of an elongated oval 

 form, and of a thick texture. They are evergreen, and 

 partially renewed once in three or four years. It })uts 

 forth flowers in June and July, which are, commonly, rose- 

 colored, with yellow or orange dots on the inside, and 

 sometimes i)ure white, or shaded with lake. They are 

 always collected at the extremity of the branches, in beau- 

 tiful groups, which derive additional lustre from the foli- 

 age that surrounds them. Previous to their expansion. 



