280 XLVI. ERICACEAE. [Andromeda. 



linear, on thick placentae projecting from the summit or the middle of the 

 axis. 



1. A. ovalifolia, Wall, j Wight Ic. t. 1199. Syn. Pieris ovalifolia, 

 Don. Vern. Ayatta, eilan, ellan, ellal, arur, rattankdt, Pb. ; Eydr, aydr, 

 N.W.P. ; Anjir, angiar, Nepal. 



A glabrous shrub or small tree. Leaves coriaceous, entire, 3-6 in. 

 long, ovate or elliptic-oblong, acute or shortly acuminate, penniveined, on 

 short petioles. Flowers white to bluish, flesh-coloured sometimes, in uni- 

 lateral, bracteate racemes ; bracts lanceolate, deciduous. Corolla tubular, 

 slightly constricted at the mouth. Filaments subulate from a thickened 

 base, ciliate, included, but nearly as long as corolla-tube, with two spread- 

 ing ciliate filiform appendices at the apex ; anthers awnless, oblong. 

 Sutures of the capsule with a linear ridge, which pulls away separately 

 when the capsule opens. 



Common in the outer Himalaya from the Indus to Assam, usually between 

 4000 and 8000 ft., at times ascending to 10,000, and descending as low as 2000 

 ft. Kasia hills, Burma, and Japan. In oak and pine forests, and often asso- 

 ciated with Rhododendron arboreum. Leafless for some time in winter, new 

 foliage Feb. Fl. April-June ; capsules ripen July-Sept. Growth slow, 34 

 rings per inch. Bark rough, with numerous narrow, deep, close-set cracks, tail- 

 ing off into each other. Inner bark fibrous. Wood light reddish-brown, com- 

 pact, firm, not durable, used only as fuel and for making charcoal. Buds and 

 young leaves are poisonous to goats ;* the young leaves are used to kill insects, 

 an infusion and the juice of the leaves are applied externally in skin diseases. 



A. formosa, Wall.; Wight Ic. t. 1200. Syn. Pieris formosa, Don. ; is an 

 evergreen tree with lanceolate serrulate leaves, racemes in large terminal pani- 

 cles. Bhutan, Sikkim (7000-10,000 ft.), Nepal, and (doubtfully, Madden) in 

 Eastern Kamaon at 7000 ft. 



2. RHODODENDRON, Linn. 



Shrubs or trees, with evergreen, entire, alternate leaves and large showy 

 flowers usually in compact terminal clusters or umbelliform corymbs, from 

 large buds with scaly bracts. Calyx free, entire, 5-lobed or 5-parted, or 

 obsolete. Corolla campanulate or infundibuliform, 5-12-lobed, sometimes 

 slightly irregular. Stamens 10-20, commonly declinate, as well as the 

 style ; anthers short, opening by terminal pores, awnless. Ovary supe- 

 rior. Capsule cylindrical or conical, 5-18-celled and -valved, dehiscing 

 septicidally. Seeds numerous, scale-like. Placentae projecting from the 

 axis, either 2 in each cell (the inflected and distinct edges of the carpellary 

 leaves), bearing seeds on the outside only, or one placenta in each cell 

 bearing seeds on both sides. 



Flowers in terminal corymbs ; calyx small, flattish. 



Flowers on short pedicels; capsules 10-celled, 10-valved . 1. R. arboreum. 



Flowers on slender pedicels f-1 in. long ; capsules 5-6-celled 2. R. campanulatum. 

 Flowers in terminal corymbs ; calyx cleft to the base ; lobes 



foliaceous, membranous 3. R. Anthopogon. 



Flowers solitary ; calyx foliaceous . . . . . , . 4. R. lepidotum. 



See Cleghorn in Journ. Agr. Hort. Soc. of India, xiv. 260 (1867). 



