THE GREAT LAUREL OR ROSE BAY 



THE extraordinary beauty of our native Rhododendron or Rose Bay is universally 

 acknowledged. Its only rival is the Mountain Laurel of the same heath family 

 and having very similar characteristics. No other native plant could possibly 

 be confused with it: the long, thick, smooth-margined, evergreen leaves, clustered at the 

 ends of the branches ; the beautiful white or rosy pink flowers, with petals of such delicate 

 texture ; the dark, brownish-red fruit-capsules, with the dried pistils projecting from their 

 tips ; and the large flower-buds these are all distinctive features of the species so far as 

 native plants are concerned. In parks and private grounds Rhododendrons of other 

 species have been planted in great variety, so that the determination of the precise sort in 

 such a planting is a much more difficult matter. 



As commonly found in the woods our Rhododendron is a shrub, commonly more 

 or less spreading in its habit of growth, but in its largest estate it may become a tree forty 

 feet high and a foot in diameter, although even then it is likely to give the effect of an over- 

 grown bush, its trunk being very short and generally crooked and irregular in outline. 

 The species occurs locally from Nova Scotia southward, but only in great numbers in 

 Southern mountain regions. 



A great many hybrid forms of Rhododendron have been developed by crossing 

 this and other species. Many of these are hardy and of great beauty and are extensively 

 planted by landscape architects. The demand, however, so exceeds the supply of well- 

 grown plants that during recent years great quantities of the native forms have been 

 transplanted from the woods. On this subject Mr. J. Woodward Manning writes in the 

 " Cyclopedia of Horticulture : " " Such large private estates as those of William Rockefeller, 

 W. L. Elkins, Mrs. Eliot F. Shepard and others have very largely been stocked with col- 

 lected plants of Rhododendron maximum, supplied in car-load lots and in sizes ranging from 

 8-foot bushy specimens down to small plants that could be grown for future flower and 

 foliage effects. These plants are taken from localities where the plants are growing either 

 in the open or under moderate shade conditions, and have been pruned by the natural 

 process of fire, resulting in a vigorous growth of a more or less bushy and compact nature 

 and growing in a soil of sufficient richness to assure their digging with a large amount of 

 clinging earth. With proper care in transportation and after-cultivation the results show 

 a surprisingly small loss of plants." Of course this method can only be temporary, for 

 the plants growing under the most favorable conditions for digging are limited, but it will 

 enable the nurseries to develop a supply for future use. 



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