1136 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



Gin. to 1 ft. in height, and flowering in June and July. Pallas found it in 

 Kaintschatka, growing in the hollows at the foot of mountains, and 

 by the margins of stagnant pools. It is indigenous through the whole of 

 Siberia, from Lake Baical to the river Lena ; thriving equally on the tops 

 of mountains covered with snow, and in the peat bogs of the valley. It 

 was introduced in 1796, but is not common in collections, being very dif- 

 ficult to keep. The best plants, in the neighbourhood of London, are at 

 the Knaphill Nursery, Woking, Surrey. This shrub has a place in the British 

 materia medica, and is frequently prescribed as a substitute for colchicum, 

 in the cure of the gout and rheumatism. Its value as a medicine was first 

 discovered by Gmelin and Steller, when travelling in Siberia, who inform us 

 that the Siberians have recourse to it in rheumatic and other affections of 

 the muscles and joints. The manner of using the plant by the Siberians is, 

 by putting two drachms of the dried leaves in an earthen pot, with about 

 10 oz. of boiling water, and keeping it nearly at a boiling heat for a night : 

 this they take in the morning, and, by repeating the dose three or four times, 

 generally effect a cure. It is said to occasion heat, thirst, a degree of de- 

 lirium, and a peculiar sensation of the parts affected. (WoodviUc.} 



o. 7. R. CAUCA'SICUM Pal/. The Caucasian Rhododendron. 



Identification. Pall. Fl. Ross., 1. p. 46. t 30. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 844. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 

 Engravings Bot. Mag., t 1145.; and our fig. 934. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves ovate-oblong, clothed with 

 rusty tomentuin beneath, rugged and green above. 

 Peduncles hairy. Bracteas elongated, tomentose. 

 Ovarium downy. Root creeping. Branches pro- 

 cumbent. Flowers purple or white, disposed in 

 umbellate corymbs. Corollas rotate, with wavy, 

 rounded segments. (Doll's Mil/., iii. p. 844.) A 

 native of Caucasus, on high rocks, near the limits 

 of perpetual snow; where it forms an evergreen 

 shrub, growing 1 ft. high, and flowering in August. 

 It was introduced in 1803, but is rare in col- 

 lections. There are plants at Messrs. Loddiges's, 

 and at Knaphill. 934 



Varieties. The following hybrids are among the handsomest rhododendrons 

 in cultivation : 



. R. r. 2 straviincum Hook. Bot. Mag., t. 3422., has straw-coloured co- 

 rollas. A plant of this variety in the Glasgow Botanic Garden, in 

 April, 1835, was 2ft. high, and 3ft. in diameter, with the extre- 

 mities of its fine leafy branches terminated with clusters of large, 

 beautiful, straw-coloured flowers. The climate of Scotland seems 

 to suit this, and some of the other species found in the coldest parts 

 of the Russian empire, better than that of the south of England. 



* R. r. 3 pidcherrimwn Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1820. f. 2., is a hybrid, ob- 

 tained by Mr. Waterer of the Knaphill Nursery, between R. arbo- 

 reum and R. caucasicum, in 1832. It is described as a " most beau- 

 tiful variety," quite hardy, and an abundant flowerer. 



R. c. 4 Nob/eiinum Hurt., Rot. Reg., t. 1820. f. 1., is a hybrid, very 

 much like the preceding one in all respects, except that its flowers 

 are of a deep and brilliant rose colour. 



* 8. 7?. PUNCTA^TUM Andr. The dotted-Jeaved Rhododendron. 



Identification. Andr. Bot. Rep., .36.; Vent. Cels, t. 15. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 814. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. IRJfi. 

 Synonymes. R. ferrugfneum var. minus Pcrs. Erich., \. p. 478. ; It. minus Mic/ix. El. Ror. Amrr., 1 . 



p. 258. ; R. punctatum var. minus Wats. Dcnd. Hrit., W2. A. 

 Engravings. Andr. Bot. Rep., 36. ; Vent. Cels. t. 15. ; Wats. Dend. Brit, 1. 162. A. ; and our Jig. <> .;.">. 



Spec. Char. y $c. Leaves oval-lanceolate, acute at both ends, glabrous, beset 

 with rusty resinous dots beneath. Pedicels short. Calycinc teeth short. 



