466 



RH O 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



R H O 



Yorkshire ; also in Scotland and Wales. To propagate it, 

 plant cuttings of the stalks in the middle of April, soon after 

 they come out from the head, in a shady 'border; covering 

 them close down with a glass, and keeping them dry : they 

 will put out roots in six weeks, but the cuttings should be 

 laid in a dry room at least a week before they are planted, 

 otherwise they are subject to rot. Or, part the roots in the 

 beginning of September, when their stallss begin to decay ; 

 and if the fleshy parts are cut or broken, lay them to dry a 

 few days before they are planted. They require a shady 

 situation, and a dry undunged soil, in which they will con- 

 tinue many years. , 



2. Rhodiola Biternata. Leaves biternate, gashed; stem 

 twining. Native of Cochin-china, in ill-cultivated gardens, 

 but not frequent. The female has not been seen. 



Rhododendrum ; a genus of the class Decandria, order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth five- 

 parted, permanent. Corolla : one-petalled ; wheel-funnel- 

 form ; border spreading, with five rounded unequal segments. 

 Stamina: filamenta ten, filiform, almost the length of the 

 corolla, declined ; antherse oval. Pistil: germen five-cor- 

 nered, retuse ; style filiform, the length of the corolla; stigma 

 obtuse. Pericarp : capsule ovate, subangular, five-celled, 

 divisible into five parts. Seeds : numerous, very small. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER., Calix: five-parted. Corolla: some- 

 what funnel-form. Stamina: declined. Capsule: five-celled. 

 The species are, 



1. Rhododendrum Ferrugineum ; Rusty-leaved Rhododen- 

 drum. Leaves smooth, leprous underneath ; corollas funnel- 

 shaped ; clusters terminal ; calix fringed. It rises with a shrub- 

 by stalk nearly three feet high, sending out many irregular 

 branches, covered with a purplish bark. The flowers are pro- 

 duced in round bunches at the ends of the branches ; the co- 

 rolla is funnel-shaped, with a short tube, and is cut into five 

 obtuse segments at the brim, spreading a little open, and is of 

 a rich crimson colour, dotted with white. Native of high moun- 

 tains in Switzerland, Austria, Savoy, Piedmont, and Dauphiny ; 

 where this, and the fourth species, terminate the ligneous 

 vegetation as we ascend, and furnish the shepherds with their 

 only fuel. The grouse are said to eat it, and the white hares 

 sometimes gnaw the bark in hard weat'her ; yet animals do 

 not appear to feed on it, except in want of other food, and it 

 is suspected of being in a small degree poisonous. The galls 

 of some small insect are frequently upon it. The flowers 

 appear from May to July, but are seldom produced in abun- 

 dance upon cultivated plants. All the plants of this genus 

 are propagated by seeds : but they are so very small, that if 

 they are covered deep they will not grow. They should be 

 sown as soon as possible after they are ripe, either in a shady 

 border, or in pots filled with fresh loam, and very lightly 

 covered with a little fine earth. Plunge these pots up to 

 their rims in a shady border, and in hard frost cover them 

 with bell and hand glasses, taking them off in mild wea-the-r. 

 If these seeds be sown early in autumn, they will come up in 

 the following spring. They must be kept shaded from the 

 sun, especially the first summer, and duly refreshed with 

 water ; in the autumn following transplant them to a shady 

 situation and on a loamy soil, covering the ground about their 

 roots with moss, to guard them from frost in winter, and keep 

 the ground moist in summer. They may also be increased 

 from suckers or offsets, which they produce plentifully where 

 they naturally grow, though they rarely produce them in 

 England, nor do the seeds often come to maturity in our 

 climate. 



2. Rhododendrum Dauricum ; Dotted-leaved Rhododen- 

 drum. Leaves smooth, dotted, naked; corollas wheel-shaped. 



Root tuberous, knobbed, thick, deeply bound down by root- 

 lets striking into the ground, or into the fissures of rocks ; 

 trunks very short above ground, twisted, and knobbed : the 

 flowers corne out before the leaves, at the ends of the branch- 

 lets of the former year, from a bud that continues the branch, 

 composed of ferruginous, subpubescent, concave scales; they 

 nod a little, and have some smell. Native of Siberia : it is 

 peculiar to the subalpine tracts of Eastern Asia. It appears 

 first at the jaws of the river Jenisca ; and beyond that, espe- 

 cially from the river Uda, in the Pine woods, it begins to be 

 common ; but about Baikal it is most abundant, and extends 

 through the desert of the Mongols to China and Tibet ; at the 

 Lena it becomes more rare ; and beyond that, is much lower, 

 with a more slender flower, and narrower leaves. See the 

 preceding species, for its propagation and culture. 



3. Rhododendrum Chrysanthemum; Yellow Rhododendrum. 

 Leaves oblong, undotted above, rugged, and very much 

 veined ; corolla wheel-shaped, irregular ; flowering-bud fer- 

 ruginous, tomentose. In alpine situations this shrub is less 

 than a foot high; in lower grounds it grows to a foot and 

 half, sending out abundance of decumbent branches, having 

 their ends emerging from the moss, subdivided, bearing 

 both leaves and flowers. Native of the highest mountains 

 of Siberia, &c. See the first species for its propagation 

 and culture. This plant was first noticed for its medicinal 

 qualities by Gmelin and Steller, who mention it as used in 

 Siberia for the cure of rheumatism. Little attention, how- 

 ever, was paid to it, till Koelpin recommended it in 1779, 

 not only in rheumatism and gout, but even in venereal cases ; 

 and it is now generally employed in chronic rheumatism, in 

 various parts of Europe. The leaves, which are the parts 

 employed, have a bitterish subastringent taste, and, as well 

 as the bark and young branches, manifest a degree of acri- 

 mony. Taken in large doses, they prove a narcotic poison. 

 Dr. Home, who tried this shrub unsuccessfully in cases of 

 acute rheumatism, says, that it appears to be one of the most 

 powerful sedatives which we have, as in most trials it reduced 

 the pulse remarkably low, and in one patient reduced it thirty- 

 eight beats. In other cases, at Edinburgh, it has been pro- 

 ductive of such good effects, as to obtain admission into their 

 Pharmacopeia. The method of using the plant by the Sibe- 

 rians is, by putting two drachms of the dried leaves in an 

 earthen pot, with about ten ounces of boiling water, keeping 

 it near a boiling heat for a night : thus they take it in the 

 morning, and by repeating it three or four times, generally 

 effect a cure. It is said to occasion heat, thirst, a degree of 

 delirium, and a peculiar sensation o.f the parts affected. This 

 medicine should be taken with caution, and the patient should 

 begin with small doses, increasing them gradually ; but it is 

 not likely ever to become a favourite medicine in this country, 

 because it is not an indigenous plant. 



4. Rhododendrum Hirsutum ; Hairy Rhododendrum. 

 Leaves ciliate, naked ; corollas funnel-shaped. This shrub 

 seldom rises two feet high, and sends out many short woody 

 branches, covered with a light brown bark. It greatly resem- 

 bles the first species, the chief distinction consisting in the 

 leaves being fringed with rigid hairs, their form more obovate 

 and flat; and their under side less rusty. It has been tried, 

 and found to possess the same medicinal properties as the 

 preceding species. Native of the mountains of Switzerland, 

 Austria, Styria, and Dauphiny. 



5. Rhododendrum Chamsecistus ; Dwarf Rhododendrum. 

 Leaves ciliate ; corollas wheel-shaped. This is a small shrub, 

 very much branched, the extreme branches leafy; corolla 

 purple, the segments ovate. Native of Austria, Carniola, 

 Monte-Baldo, and near Saltzburg. 



