360 RHODODENDRON MAXIMUM. 
len of the Rhododendron maximum. The flowers of this variety are very Ira- 
grant, which circumstance alone, entitles it to a place in collections. 
3. R. m. purpureum, Loudon. Purple-flowered Rose Bay-tree. This variety, 
which has large purple flowers, grows to an immense size, its stem being often 
found eighteen inches in diameter, and its foliage triple the size of that of any 
other species. It is a native of Virginia and Carolina, on the highest mountains, 
near lakes, where it forms a large shrub, or low tree, growing to the height of 
twenty-five feet, flowering in the months of May and June. 
Geography, fyc. The Rhododendron maximum is found on Long Island, and 
on the banks of the Hudson below the Highlands, in the state of New York, and 
rarely as far north as Massachusetts ; but these places may be considered far 
beyond the limits where this tree ceases to be an inhabitant of the forests. It 
frequently occurs in the middle and southern states of the union, particularly in 
the mountainous tracts of Carolina and Georgia. It is almost exclusively seen 
on the borders of rivers and creeks, and is observed to be more multiplied in 
approaching the Alleghanies, till, in the midst of these mountains, especially in 
Virginia, it becomes so abundant on the sides of the torrents, as to form impene- 
trable thickets. Deeply-shaded situations, in the vicinity of cool and crystal 
waters flowing among rocks, where the atmosphere is charged with vapour, are 
the most congenial to the growth of this tree. 
This species was introduced into Britain by Peter Collinson, in 1736; but it 
did not flower in England, as Miller informs us, until 1756 ; and the only person 
who then succeeded in raising it, was Mr. James Gordon, at Mile End. It has 
also been introduced into many of the gardens and collections on the continent of 
Europe ; but as it is not nearly so easy of cultivation as the Rhododendron pon- 
ticum, it does not grow to so large a size. In Derbyshire, England, at Shipley 
Hall, there is a specimen of the Pontic rhododendron exceeding sixteen feet in 
height, the branches of which cover a space nearly sixty feet in diameter. In 
the Bartram botanic garden, at Kingsessing, near Philadelphia, there is a Rho- 
dodendron maximum fifteen feet in height, with a top forty-five feet in circum- 
ference. 
Propagation and Culture. The Rhododendron maximum, like all its conge- 
ners, may be propagated by cuttings of the young shoots, taken off in a growing 
state, when their lower ends have begun to ripen, and planted in pure sand, and 
covered with a bell-glass, or by layers; but the best plants of this, and ali the 
other species, are procured from seeds. They are ripe in August or September ; 
and, though they will retain their vital principle for upwards of a year, it is con- 
sidered safest to sow them soon after they are gathered. They should be sown 
in peat soil, or very fine sandy loam, in pots or boxes, or in a border shaded from 
the direct influence of the sun ; and kept in a uniform state of moisture, and pro- 
tected from the frost. In sowing, the surface of the soil should previously be 
made quite smooth, and gently pressed down, or watered till it has settled to a 
level surface ; and, after the seeds have been equally distributed over this sur- 
face, they should be covered with no more soil than is barely requisite to conceal 
them from the eye. Seeds sown in autumn will germinate in the following 
spring, and will be fit for transplanting by the next autumn, or by the spring of the 
following year. After seedling plants have been a year in pots, or in the seed- 
bed, they may be planted into nursery lines, and removed every year, or every 
second year, and placed at greater distances, till they have acquired the size at 
which it is considered desirable to sell them, or to plant them where they are 
finally to remain. At whatever age or size they are removed from the nursery, 
they require, in common with all hair-rooted plants, to have a small ball of earth 
attached to their roots, and to have these carefully protected from drought by 
mats. In consequence of almost all the rhododendrons and azaleas being remov- 
