Magenta to Pink 



a more hairy species than the Pinxter-flower, with a very sticky, 

 glandular corolla tube, and deliriously fragrant blossoms, by no 

 means invariably white. John Burroughs is nol the only one who 

 has passed "several patches of swamp honeysuckles, red with 

 blossoms" ("Wake-Robin*'). But as this species does not 

 bloom until June and July, when the sun quickly bleaches the 

 delicate flowers, it is true we most frequently find them white, 

 merely tinged with pink. The leaves are well developed before 

 the blossoms appear. Concerning azaleas' poisonous property, 

 see page 126. 



Rhodora 



{Rhodora (la mule us is) Heath family 



{Rhododendron Rhodora of Gray) 



Flowers — Purplish pink, rose, or nearly white, i}6 in. broad or less, 

 in clusters on short, stiff, hairy pedicels, and usually appear- 

 ing before the leaves, from scaly, terminal buds. Calyx 

 minute; corolla 2- lipped, upper lip unequally 2 jlobed; lower 

 lip 2-cleft ; 10 stamens ; 1 pistil, the style slightly protruding. 

 Stem : 1 to 3 ft. high, shrubby, branching. Leaves : 1 leciduous, 

 oval to oblong, dark green above, pale and hairy beneath. 



Pre/erred Habitat — "W et hillsides, damp woods, beside sluggish 

 streams, cool bogs. 



Flowering Season Ma v. 



Distribution — Newfoundland to Pennsylvania mountains. 



A superficial glance at this low, little, thin shrub might mis- 

 take it for a magenta variety of the leafless Pinxter-flower. It 

 does its best to console the New Englanders tor the scarcity ol 

 the magnificent rhododendron, with which it was formerly 

 classed. The Sage of Concord, who became so enamored «»t 

 it that Massachusetts people often speak of it as " Emerson's 

 flower," extols its loveliness in a sonnet: 



" Rhodora ! If the sages ask thee why 



This charm is wasted on the earth and sky, 

 Tell them, dear, if eyes were made for seeing, 

 Then Beauty is its own excu 



American or Great Rhododendron ; Great 

 Laurel ; Rose Tree, or Bay 

 {Rhododendron maximum) Heath family 



Flowers — Rose pink, varying to white, greenish in the throat, 

 spotted with yellow' or orange, in broad clusters sel like a 

 bouquet among leaves, and developed from scaly, cone-like 



123 



