764 RHODODENDRON. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. RHODODENDRON 



Swansea, in Wales, and about Falmouth, 

 in Cornwall, and also in the south of 

 England and Ireland generally, the coast 

 line all round the islands, too, being 

 favourable. A soil which is naturally 

 peaty is no doubt the best, but not es- 

 sential ; they may be grown out-of-doors 

 in loam either light or moderately stiff so 

 long as lime is absent, and with plenty of 

 leaf mould. They should always, if pos- 

 sible, be planted near trees near enough 

 to be screened from the sun for a few 

 hours a day. 



The following is a list of species of 

 some proved hardy in Britain in the south- 

 ern counties and in good suitable soils. 



R. FALCONERI. A noble kind thriving in 

 Cornish gardens, with oblong leaves about 10 

 ins. long, coated beneath with reddish down, 

 dark green, slightly downy and curiously 

 wrinkled above. The flowers are of a curious 

 shade of creamy white tinged with lilac to- 

 wards the base. R. eximiuin is a fine variety 

 of this, differing in its bright pink flowers and 

 the thicker reddish brown fluff on the upper 

 surface of the leaves. 



R. ARBOREUM. The best known of the 

 Himalayan species, and one of the most vari- 

 able. The various forms may roughly be 

 divided into two groups, the one with foliage 

 that is silvery beneath, the other having the 

 underside of the leaf covered more or less with 

 a reddish tomentum. The leaves of all are 

 from 5 ins. to 8 ins. long, the trusses rounded 

 or sometimes almost conical, with the flowers 

 closely packed, the colour of the bell-shaped 

 corolla varying from rich crimson to almost 

 white. The plants known under the following 

 names belong to the arboreum group, some 

 having been given specific rank : Campbelln?, 

 flowers rosy purple, leaves rusty beneath ; 

 limbatum, flowers rosy purple, leaves silvery 

 beneath ; nilagiricum, flowers rosy, leaves 

 reddish beneath ; Cinnamomeum, flowers al- 

 most white ; Windsori, flowers and trusses 

 smaller, rich crimson. 



R. BARBATUM is described as being in a wild 

 state 40 ft. to 60 ft. high ; I have seen it about 

 12 ft. high in Cornwall. The leaves are 5 ins. 

 to 7 ins. long with flowers of a rich blood-red 

 colour borne in a compact truss 4 ins. or more 

 in diameter. 



R. HODGSONI. A spreading shrub or small 

 tree, rarely more than 12 ft. high, the stout 

 leaves upwards of I ft. long, covered beneath 

 with a grey tomentum, the upper side a bright 

 shade of green, and flowers are of a pale rose- 

 purple. It is hardy in both the Welsh and 

 Cornish gardens. 



R. WIGHTI. A small tree, found at eleva- 

 tions of 11,000 ft. to 14,000 ft., bearing yellow 

 flowers "2.\ inches across in large rounded 

 trusses. The leaves are firm and stout, 6 ins. 

 to 10 ins. in length, and when young quite 

 white underneath, becoming grey with age. 



R. NIVEUM. One of the hardiest species, 

 but far from the most showy, the young leaves 



being covered with a white tomentum, the 

 upper surface afterwards becoming deep green 

 and glabrous, the purplish lilac flowers close 

 in a small head. 



R. FULGENS. One of the hardiest and 

 rarest of Himalayan Rhododendrons, blooming 

 out of doors early in March, and not always 

 escaping the damaging spring frosts, but if it 

 does, it is the most brilliantly coloured shrub 

 flowering at that time. The flowers are in 

 compact rounded trusses about 4 ins. across, a 

 bright blood-red, the leaves coated beneath 

 with a rusty felt. The true plant has been 

 grown outside for many years in the Rhodo- 

 dendron dell at Kew, and it has never been 

 injured by frost, nor does it ever fail to set 

 abundance of bloom. Himalaya, at elevations 

 of 12,000 ft. to 14,000 ft. 



R. CAMPANULATUM. Among the hardiest 

 of the Himalayan species, flowering in April 

 and forming a widely spreading bush. The 

 leaves are coated beneath with a brightly 

 coloured reddish felt, and the flowers are pale 

 purple, changing to nearly white. 



R. LANATUM. The young branches, both 

 surfaces of the leaves, and the petioles are 

 covered with a dull white or tawny tomen- 

 tum, the sulphur-yellow flowers are 2 ins. 

 across. 



R. AUCKLAND!. This tender species attains 

 the dimensions of a small tree, its stems being 

 of a grey colour with the bark pealing off. A 

 hybrid between it and Hookeri calied kewense 

 (raised at Kew in 1874) has flowers of a pale 

 flesh colour, not so large as those of Aticklandi, 

 but more numerous in the truss. There is also 

 a very pretty hybrid known as Attcklandi 

 hybridum which is hardy in the London dis- 

 trict ; its flowers are pure white. Syn. A'. 

 Griffithiamtm. 



R. THOMSONI. The flowers of this species 

 of a fine red are borne in loose trusses, hardy 

 in the London district and flowering in the 

 early part of April ; the leaves 3 ins. to 4 ins. 

 long, very dark green above. This is a plant 

 of bushy habit ; the largest I have seen is 

 growing at Tremough, near Falmouth a 

 magnificent garden for these Rhododendrons. 

 It was 12 ft. high and 15 ft. through. 



R. CAMPYLOCARPUM is closely allied to the 

 preceding and it is of similar habit, but the 

 flowers are pale yellow, borne in a loose truss 

 and scented like honey. 



R. HOOKERI. A native of Bhotan, and on 

 the Oola Mountain this is said to form entire 

 thickets accompanied by Pinus excelsa. The 

 leaves are oblong or oval, 4 ins. long and 

 glaucous beneath, the flowers of a bright red. 



R. CINNABARINUM. In "The Flora of 

 British India " this name is made to include 

 what have previously been known as R. Roylei 

 and R. blandfordiceflorum. The species is, 

 indeed, a most variable one, having flowers of 

 a brick-red, rich crimson, or sometimes 

 greenish colour. They are all distinguished 

 by the long narrow corolla, resembling a Lapa- 

 geria. 



R. KEYSI. A curious species, with flowers 



