Handbook of Tkkks of the J^orthekn States and Canada. 309 



•Tlie Uose r>;iy is fiuiiili;ir as a slinil) to most 

 liooplf. who iic'vi'i- think of it as a tire, but 

 ill the Allc-,'haiiy .Mountains, of Teiim'ssw and 

 .\'(jrth and South Carolina, it becomes a bushy 

 round-topped tree, 30 to 40 ft. in height, witli 

 f'rooi<ed and more or loss inclined trunk ll» or 

 12 in. in diameter. \\c sec in these individuals 

 the appropriateness of one of its names — 

 (iirat J'liododeiidroii. It is rare and local, and 

 in shrubby form, in the northern i)art of its 

 range, only occupying certain cold swamps, but 

 to the southward it becomes abundant, occupy- 

 ing mountain-slopes and intervales alike, and 

 is conunonly scattered as an undergrowth 

 through forests among other trees, or in places 

 forming almost impenetrable thickets of con- 

 siderable extent. The beauty of the Rhodo- 

 dendron in flower is scarcely surpassed by any 

 other tree or shrub of the American forests, 

 and one's first visit to its haunts in the flower- 

 ing season is s>ire to be long remembered. 



The wood is fine-grained and hard, but rather 

 brittle, and useful in turnery for tool-handles, 

 etc. A cubic foot when absolutely dry weighs 

 :i!».28 Ibs.i 



JjcaviK ohlons-Iancoolato. olilanceolatp or oblonj;. 

 4-1i; in. hirm. ariiti' at both ends, revolute in th(> 

 liiul. fcrruiriiious tonii'nt()S(> at first but at ma- 

 turity lustrous dark tjrccn aliovc, pah-r Ijcneatli. 

 thick and stiff. Fhnrcfs ( .Uini'-.ruly i in lti-ii4- 

 tlowered umbels 4-r> in. across, witli slender pink 

 viscid-pubescent pedicels siiriu.uinf; from the axils 

 of the scales of the inflorescence buds : caly.x-. 

 lobes oblong, rounded : corolla canipanulatc, gib- 

 bous posteriorly, about 1 in. long-, varying from 

 rose-color or purplish to white, cleft to the middle 

 lobes rounded, the upjier one yellow spotted in- 

 side. Fruit capsule oblong-ovoid. % in. long. 

 1,'laiHlulai-hispid. opening and liberating its seeds 

 in autumn and persisting during the following 

 winter. - 



1. A. -W 



1*. For genus 



Xll. 2.S4. 



p. 4.- 



