FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 413 



NAME. 



COUNTRY OR 



ORIGIN AND 



NATURAL ORDER. 



COLOUR 



AND 



SEASON. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



Rhododendron 

 catawbiense 



R. caucasicuni 



Mountainous re- 

 gions of South- 

 ern United 

 States 



Good- 

 sized 

 heads of 

 lilac or 

 purplish 

 flowers ; 

 late May 

 and June 



Introduced nearly 

 a century ago 

 from high rocks 

 close to the 

 snow - line in 

 Caucasus 



Rose or 

 whitish 

 green 

 I spotted 

 i flowers, 

 ! in compact 

 i and upright 

 clusters 



R. ciliatum 



Sikkim 



Flowers 

 are white, 



suffused 



with rose ; 



April 



outdoors 



R. cinnabarina 



Himalaya 



Flowers are 



tubular, 

 with short, 

 spreading 

 limb, pen- 

 dulous, and 



This is a strong growing species 

 and one of the hardiest of 

 all Rhododendrons, and has 

 played a large part in the pro- 

 duction of the present race of 

 garden Rhododendrons, and 

 is with R. ponticum the best 

 stock on which to graft the 

 various varieties, and is use- 

 ful for covert. It is hardier 

 than R. ponticum, and 

 varieties with much of the 

 Catawbiense blood in them 

 are hardier than those closely 

 allied to other species. Fas- 

 tuosum fl. pi. is a well known 

 form. 



This is a quite hardy Rhodo- 

 dendron. The true species 

 is rare in gardens, but there 

 are several forms, and it has 

 been used to a great extent 

 by the hybridist. It is dwarf, 

 spreading, little more than a 

 foot high, with ovate leaves 

 with brownish tomentum on 

 the under surface. It flowers 

 late in July or in August, 

 but its progeny is in beauty 

 during May and June. A 

 hybrid, which flowers at a 

 considerable earlier date than 

 the others, is nobleanum ; 

 it claims R. arboreum as its i 

 other parent, and flowers | 

 from December onwards until ! 

 the end of March. At Kew I 

 there are several large groups 

 in the Rhododendron dell. 



This is a Rhododendron more 

 adapted, except in the quite 

 southern counties such as 

 Cornwall, South Wales, &c. , 

 for a cold house. It is of 

 compact and bushy growth, 

 2 feet or 3 feet or less high, 

 but varies according, of 

 course, to locality, and is 

 part responsible for a number 

 of hybrids, such as praecox, 

 Rosy Bell, and Queen of 

 Dwarfs. The hybrids men- 

 tioned are all hardy, but 

 owing to their early flowering 

 often get injured by frost. 



This is a very distinct-looking 

 shrub, about 3 feet ; but only 

 an approximate height can 

 be given, as it is sometimes 

 more than this. The growth 

 is somewhat loose, and the 



