GREENHOUSE RHODODENDRONS 



Another interesting cross resulted from a variety of the Indian A/alea Stella 

 with Lord Wolseley, a javanico-jasminiflorum hybrid, the latter being the female 

 parent. This bigeneric hybrid did not flower until it was six years old. 



Professor Henslow gives the following account of this hybrid in the paper 

 above referred to : " The female parent is of the third generation, the descent 

 being as follows : 



R. jasminiflorum x R. javanicum 



(white) 



(orange) 



Princess Royal x Brookeanum gracile 

 (pink) (yellow) 



Duchess of Teck x R. javauicum 



(reddish orange) 



(orange) 



Lord Wolseley 

 (red orange) 



" The male-parent has a dark rose-coloured corolla, with crimson spots over the 

 upper petals. The corolla of the cross is smaller than that of either parent, 

 having a broadish, nearly straight tube, slightly bulging above ; the lobes of 

 the limb are much shorter than is the case with either parent. The colour is a 

 rather redder orange than that of the female parent ; the anthers are crimson, 

 as well as in both parents. With regard to the foliage of the cross, though 

 smaller in size, the leaf agrees, both in form and anatomical details, with that of 

 the Rhododendron or female parent in every detail of importance. The leaf of 

 Azalea is markedly different, being obovate instead of lanceolate ; toothed, and 

 not entire ; covered with fibrous hairs instead of being glabrous above, with 

 minute peltate scales below ; the cell-walls of the epidermis being sinuate instead 

 of straight ; and the proportion of stomata being less than in the Rhododendron 

 as well as the cross. 



"The hairs of the Azalea are very peculiar in structure. They grow on the 

 branches, petioles, midrib, and veins below, and are generally scattered over the 

 upper surface of the leaf. They are composed of numerous fibres resembling 

 short libre-fibres, graduated in length so that the longest form the point of the 

 hair, like a fine camel's-hair brush. 



" With regard to a dwarf Sister-plant (this plant is now twenty-one years old, but 

 does not exceed five inches in height: it has never flowered), the anatomical 

 details exhibited a very considerable amount of arrest of structure, the number 

 of cells, in consequence of their minute size, being nearly twice that of the 

 Rhododendron in the same area, with fewer stomata. It also agreed in most 

 other respects both with the sister-cross as well as with the Rhododendron, except 

 that the shape was more elliptical, and possessed glandular hairs instead of scales. 

 It is observable that this case followed the supposed rule in so far as that the 

 female parent gave its likeness to the foliage. Of the numerous hybrids and 

 crosses raised by Messrs. Veitch, amongst these seven East Indian species, the 

 above rule was found to fail very generally, in that each parent would impart 

 certain peculiarities either to the flowers or leaves, according to its own prepotency, 

 but the cause of such power is unknown." 



The great value of the javanico-jasminiflorum hybrids for the decoration of 

 conservatories, corridors, and for cut bloom, is now generally recognized, and 



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