FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 157 



Auckland!!, R. barbatum, R. ciliatum, R. campanulatum, 

 R. cinnabarinum, R. Campbelli, R. campylocarpum, R. 

 eximium, R. Fortune!, R. Falconer!, R. glaucum, R. 

 Hodgson!, R. lanatum, R. niveum, R. Roy lei, R. Thomp- 

 son!, and R. Wallichii. 



R. Ungernii and R. Smirnowii, from the Armenian 

 frontier, are also worthy of culture, but they are at present 

 rare in cultivation in this country; while our native 

 R. procumbens (syn Loiseleurea procumbens), of dwarf 

 growth and with bell-shaped pink flowers, is interesting. 



R. YUNNANENSE (Yunnan, 1894) is of erect growth, 

 perfectly hardy, and bearing white flowers, which are 

 spotted with red at the base of the upper lobes. 



Few hardy shrubs, it must be admitted, are more 

 beautiful than these Rhododendrons, none flowering more 

 freely or lasting longer in bloom. Their requirements are 

 by no means hard to meet, light, peaty soil, or even good 

 sandy loam, with a small admixture of decayed vegetable 

 matter, suiting them well. Lime in any form must, how- 

 ever, be kept away both from Azaleas and Rhododendrons. 

 They like a quiet, still place, where a fair amount of 

 moisture is present in the air and soil. 



HARDY HYBRID RHODODENDRONS. 



GHENT AZALEAS, as generally known, from having been 

 raised in Belgium, are a race of hybrids that have been 

 produced by crossing the Asiatic R. ponticum with the 

 various American species noted above, but particularly 

 R. calendulaceum, R. nudiflorum, and R. viscosum, and 

 these latter with one another. These have produced 

 hybrids of almost indescribable beauty, the flowers of 

 which range in colour from crimson and pink, through 

 orange and yellow, to almost white. 



Within the last few years quite an interesting race of 

 Rhododendrons has been brought out, with double or 



