GREENHOUSE RHODODENDRONS 



EAST INDIAN SPECIES. 



THE beautiful plants comprised in this section of the genus Rhododendron 

 known in gardens by the above name are natives of the East Indies, inhabiting 

 the islands of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, Penang and Malacca in the Malay 

 Peninsula. 



The first species introduced to cultivation in this country was Rhododendron 

 *jasminiflorum, sent to Exeter from Malacca by Thomas Lobb, flowered for 

 the first time in September 1849, and exhibited at Chiswick on the occasion 

 of the first show of the year, held by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1850. 

 The flowers pure white with a deep pink eye, somewhat resemble the blooms of 

 a Stephanotis or a Jessamine. The corolla salver-shaped, pure white, slightly 

 tinted with pink below the limb, 2 in. in length, has five equal wavy 

 lobes : the anthers are red, forming a deep rosy pink eye in the centre of the 

 flower. 



The next species named Rhododendron t javanicum, after the island in which 

 it was discovered, Blume met with on Mount Salak, and Dr. Horsfield on the 

 volcanic range extending through Java, in dense forests, at an elevation of 4000 ft. 

 Received from Java through Thomas Lobb in 1845, with a much darker form 

 previously introduced by Rollison ; the flowers orange-coloured, ten or twelve in a 

 head, here and there marked with red spots, have ten dark purple-coloured 

 anthers. 



Rhododendron javanicum was followed by a beautiful species R. J Brookeanum, 

 also sent by Thomas Lobb, who met with it in Borneo, where it had previously 

 been observed by Mr. Low. The name was given in honour of Sir James Brooke, 

 the distinguished Rajah of Sarawak, in whose territory it was discovered. The 

 first flowers produced by this species in 1855, when sent to the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's Show, attracted great attention. In its native country epiphytal on 

 trees overhanging water-courses, the plant, when lit by the sun's rays, is a 

 gorgeous sight : closely allied to R. javanicum, it differs in having a crisped 

 margin to the petals, more prominent stamens, and broader petioles to the 

 leaves. There are two varieties, one having yellow flowers of slender growth 

 received the varietal name gracile, whilst the other, as the typical form, has a, 

 more robust habit of growth and flowers of a full orange or buff-yellow colour. 



* R. jasminiflorura, Bot. Mag. t. 4524. 

 t R. javanicum, Bot. Mag. t. 4336. 



% Low in Jour. R.H.S. vol. iii. p. 82 with fig. ; Gard. Chron. 1855, p. 454 with fig. 

 Bot. Mag. t. 4935. 



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