36 THE AZALEAS OF THE OLD WORLD 



Sakamoto cultivated several kinds and raised and selected seedlings, including one 

 he named "Azuma-kagami," from which it is claimed all the pink-flowered forms 

 have descended. After the death of Mr. Sakamoto his collection passed into the 

 possession of Akashi with the result above stated. The original plant of " Azuma- 

 kagami " is still healthy, and I tried but without success to induce Mr. Akashi to 

 part with it. Japanese experts recognize by name more than 250 kinds of Kurume 

 Azaleas, but the differences are often infinitesimal. I made a selection of fifty kinds 

 in duplicate which the following year (1919) safely reached the Arnold Arboretum. 

 The two leading experts, Messers Akashi and Kuwano, at my suggestion selected 

 the following six as the pick of them all: " Takasago " (pale pink, hose-in-hose), 

 " AzumaKagami" (deep pink, hose-in-hose), "Kirin" (deep rose shading to silvery 

 rose, hose-in-hose), "Kumo No Uye" (pure salmon), "Kurai No Himo" (car- 

 mine, hose-in-hose), "Kureno Yuki" (white, hose-in-hose). My companion and 

 I concurred, but had the number been twenty the task would have been much 

 easier. 



To my mind the " Kurume Azaleas " are the loveliest of all Azaleas. The colors are 

 so pure and exquisite and of every hue and shade from white, pink and salmon to 

 scarlet, crimson and the richest magenta. Many of them are delicately fragrant. 

 The hose-in-hose forms have none of the ugly features of double flowers, but on the 

 contrary they are singularly attractive and the flowers last longer. The stamens, 

 always five, are straight, exserted or included and the anthers vary in color from 

 pale yellow-brown to blackish crimson; the color of the corolla and that of the 

 anthers being correlated. The plants are often trained as low standards with a 

 compact umbrella-shaped crown; less commonly they are dense and globose, or 

 open and irregular in form. They are extremely floriferous, and in season the blos- 

 soms often completely hide the leaves. The leaves are of course dimorphic, but 

 apart from this they vary considerably in size, in their shades of green, in their 

 autumn-coloring and in their degree of persistence. In a great measure these 

 variations are correlated with the color of the flowers, and experts in Japan can with 

 ease distinguish each variety by its foliage and general appearance. It is strange 

 that a race so rich in forms and of such decorative value should have remained un- 

 known to us until now. Yet the explanation is simple. Interior Kyushu is little 

 known to the western world, and even to those Japanese whose home is on the 

 other islands. The feudal system of government which until comparatively recently 

 obtained in Japan created and preserved this aloofness. Further, Kurume is 

 remote from the horticultural centres of Osaka and Yokohama, from whence we 

 have drawn the bulk of our garden plants and where a business is made of growing 

 for export. Nagasaki is much nearer, but in the days of Thunberg and Siebold, 

 Veitch, Maximowicz and Fortune intercommunication was difficult, and for for- 

 eigners impossible. And so it has resulted that the product of Sakamoto's hobby 

 richly developed by Akashi has remained hidden from the outside world until 

 now. During the last decade the fame of the Kurume Azaleas has reached Osaka, 

 Tokyo and other places, and growers have obtained stocks and are propagating 

 them apace. Unfortunately every grower and enthusiast names the plants accord- 

 ing to his fancy and the result in a few years will be chaos. And this is helped 

 by the fact that every slight sport or variant is kept and named and no attempt 

 at selection made. I do not see how it is possible to improve upon the strain 

 grown in Kurume unless yellow could be injected. What is needed is rigorous selec- 

 tion and the reduction of the named forms to fifty or less. In the past seedling 

 selection and preservation of sports by vegetative propagation have been the sole 

 means employed in the evolution of the race of "Kurume Azaleas," but now attempts 

 at hybridising them with the large flowered " Indian " and " ledifolia " types 

 are in progress. This may result in a new race, but whether it will be as lovely and 



