MAY. 95 



is said to be that wliicli, by the nectar in its 

 flowers, poisoned the honey of Asia Minor, 

 though some Avriters ascribe this ratlier to a 

 species of azalea. Another liardy species, tlie 

 Cataivha rhododendron, is very abundant in 

 America. Some species of rose bay are de- 

 scribed to be as abundant as the furze of our 

 native island, growing in clumps on the grassy 

 plain or hill, and, with their purple flowers, 

 gladdening many a dreary and lonely place. 

 Then we have several very pretty dwarf 

 species, hardly more than a foot high. Two of 

 these, the rusty-leaved rose bay, {Rhododendron 

 ferrugineum,) and the hairy kind, {Rhododen- 

 dron hirsutum,) with rose-coloured flowers, 

 abound on the high mountains of Switzerland ; 

 and Dr. Gilly records the beauty of the rhodo- 

 dendrons in the interesting valleys of Piedmont. 

 In Dauphine they are very luxuriant and 

 beautiful ; and near the lofty summits of the 

 magnificent Alps, they bloom in profusion,^ and 

 are the highest woody plants of these regions, 

 terminating all vegetation but that of lowliest 

 herbs and mosses. To them the mountain 

 herdsman is often indebted for his only fuel, 

 and their branches crackle on the hearth of the 

 solitary chdlet. The lofty trees gradually 

 dimini'sh or dwindle near the heights of the 

 mountains. They will grow in the valleys 

 below, but cannot bear the snow-storm and 

 bleak hurricanes, which leave these plants 

 uninjured. And on the hills of some of these 

 Alps, the lonely Piedmontese, as he gathers 



