48 THE AZALEAS OF THE OLD WORLD 



niceum, and a few of R. Simsii; several are recorded as presumed hybrids between 

 R. phoeniceum and R. ledifolium (R. mucronatum G. Don) and between R. phoeni- 

 ceum and R. Danielsianum (R. indicum Sweet) but such hybrids are unknown 

 to-day and probably never existed. In La Belgique Horticole for 1865 (XV. 

 pp. 174-192), there is an excellent article by M. Edouard Andre with a list of vari- 

 eties and the names of the originators. In the various volumes of Flore des 

 Serres are many colored figures and notes chiefly by Louis van Houtte. In fact in 

 all garden periodicals from about 1850 on, there are many references and figures of 

 these plants. However, scientific exactness is wanting and much of their early 

 beginnings is obscure. As far as I can discover the introduction into England of 

 the striped-flowered Azalea vittata by Fortune in 1850 or 1851 led to the raising of 

 seedlings. Further impetus was given by the advent the same years of A. vittata 

 Bealii with red and white striped flowers. Many of the best varieties are branch 

 sports perpetuated by grafting. From the crossing of red and white flowered varie- 

 ties many variegated forms have originated. One of the most successful breeders 

 of " Indian Azaleas " of commerce was Mr. Joseph Vervaene of Ghent, whose work is 

 fittingly commemorated by the lovely Azaleas " Vervaeniana," and " Vervaeniana 

 alba." Other names immutably connected with the raising and perfecting of the 

 "Indian Azaleas" of commerce are Messers Knight & Perry, Ivery and Rollisson 

 in England; L. Eeckhaute, Haerens, Van Houtte, Van Geert, A. Verschaffelt, 

 J. de Kneep and Van der Cruyssen in Belgium; Lesebe, Truffaut, H. de May and 

 Mabire in France; Messers Schulz, E. Liebig, Seidel and Rose in Germany. 



The varieties are legion, and each year adds materially to the number. All the 

 modern ones have been raised in Belgium or Germany, where they are cultivated 

 by the millions and exported to almost all parts of the world. Prior to 1914 more 

 than two and a half million plants were annually exported from Belgium alone. 

 In Germany a Eurhododendron (Cunningham's White) is much used as a stock 

 for these " Indian Azaleas," but not in Belgium, where R. phoeniceum and its f . con- 

 cinnum are chiefly so employed. According to J. Breck (hi The Horticulturist, I. 

 512 [1847]), Marshall P. Wilder imported from Germany by way of England and 

 cultivated in his garden in Dorchester, Mass., in 1847, Azalea "Optima" with dark 

 scarlet flowers, Azalea "Prince Albert" with scarlet flowers, and Azalea "Alba 

 Insignis" with large white flowers. The first two were undoubtedly derivatives of 

 R. Simsii and representatives of the " Indian Azaleas " of to-day, and the first intro- 

 duced into America so far as I can discover. The third was probably a form of 

 R. mucronatum. Hovey (Mag. Hart. XIV. 284 [1848]) records that on May 13, 1848, 

 Marshall P. Wilder exhibited before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 Azalea " Decora," another Indian Azalea. A plant of this was acquired by Ignatius 

 Sargent, and its descendants are still in the Holm Lea collection. 



Among the typical large-flowered forms of " Indian Azaleas " of to-day I can de- 

 tect no influence of any species other than R. Simsii, though without question R. 

 phoeniceum and its forms have been used. Those with smaller flowers, especially 

 the hose-in-hose kinds like " Hexe " and " Vuylstekeana," are without doubt 

 hybrids between forms of R. Simsii and R. obtusum f . amoenum. It is probable 

 also that typical R. obtusum has been employed. R. mucronatum and numerous 

 named forms of it are loosely designated Azalea indica, but in the evolution of the 

 "Indian Azalea" of present-day gardens neither this species nor the true A. indica 

 of Linnaeus have had any part. 



Rhododendron Simsii var. vittatum Wilson, n. comb. 



Azalea vittata Fortune, Tea Districts of China, 330 (1852). 

 Azalea indica vittata Van Houtte in Fl. des Serr. IX. t. 886 (1854). Millais, 

 Rhodod. 259 (1917). 



