Andromeda. . ERKMCE^. 437 



variable in breadth, at length nearly smooth above, paler and more or less pubescent under- 

 neath. Panicles composed of numerous short racemes, naked, or sometimes with one or two 

 small leaves at the base ; the pedicels pubescent, often in fascicles, usually without bracts. 

 Flowers scarcely two lines in lepgth, pubescent. Filaments glandularly pubescent^ anthers 

 ovate, entire, with two'tart^terminal obliquely truncated pores. Style rather thick, deciduous : 

 stigma small, capitate, eSfre. Capsule grobose, dark brown, with pale ribs at the sutures 

 which at length fall away. 



Swamps and moist thickets ; common. Fl. June - July. Fr. Septen^er. 



,, « 



* f , Tribe III. RHODOREJE. D. Don. 



Fruit capsular ; th» dehiscence "septicidal. . Corolla deciduous. Anthers awnless. — Flower- 

 . ' buds mostly scaly. 



V RHODODENDRON. Lin^. ; D. Don in ^dinb. phil. jour. 6. p. 49. ROSE-BAY 



■^ m 



\ From the Greek, rhodon, a rose, and deniron, a tree ; in allusion to the color of the flowers.] 



• 



•tlalyx 5-parted. Corolla somewhat funnel-form or campemulate ; the limb 5-cleft, and 

 iomewh^t irregular. ••Stamens 5 -^0, declined : anthers opening by two terminal pores. 

 1L Capsule mostly *-celled. Seeds numerous ; the testa loose. — Shrubs or small trees, with 

 ' alternate, entire, dtlbiduous or evergreen le^va ani corymbose flowers. 



Ij 1. EuRHODODENDRON, Endl. Qfj^Tolla campanulate? stamens 10 {or sometimes 8). 



1. Rhododendron maximum, Linn. Great Laurel. 



Leaves elliptical-oblong, evergreen, acuminate, thick and coriaceous, smooth'T'paler under- 

 neath ; corymbs somewhat racemose or thyrsoid, dense ; lobes of the calyx ovate-oblong, 

 obtuse. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 392 ; Michx. fl. I. p. 259 ; JBot. mag. t. 951 ;, Michx. f. sylv. 2. 

 t. 67 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 297 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 168, q^d med. hot. t. 51 ; Ell. 'sk. 1. p. 483 ; 

 Torr. fl. 1. p. 426 ; Beck, bot. p. 220 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 263 ; DC. prodr. 7. p. 722. 



A shrub 6-12 feet high (sometimes 20 or 25 feet high, with a diameter df"4 or 5 inches, 

 Michx.), with irregular straggling branches and a grayish bark. Leaves in tufts at the 

 extremity of the branches, 4-6 inches long and 1 - 1 J inch wide, mostly obtuse at the 

 base, pale and often a little rusty colored underneath, somewhat revolute on the margin ; the 

 petioles about an inch in length. Flowers very large and showy, in dense terminal clusters ; 

 the pedicels at first short and concealed by large viscidly pubescent acuminate bracts, but 

 finally an inch or more in length. Calyx short, viscid. Corolla campanulate, with a short 

 tube ; the lobes oblong, obtuse, rather unequal, rather pale rose-color or sometimes almost 

 white ; the upper lobe largest, spotted with orange, and often emarginate. Stamens unequal, 

 the longest rather shorter than the corolla : filaments white, woolly at the base ; anthers ob- 

 long. Ovary oblong, glutinous : style declinate : stigma somewhat clavate-capitate. Capsule 

 oblong, glandular. Seeds numerous, oblong ; the testa rather loose and reticulated. 



