1U6 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



App. i. Half -hardy Species ofl&hododendron (and Azalea). 

 i. Booraui. 



Derivation. The name of R. arbbreum in Nepal. 



Sect. Char., %c. Limb of calyx 5-lobed. Corolla campanulate. Evergreen trees, natives of the 

 Himalayas, and other mountainous regions of northern India. 



A. Species already introduced into British Gardens. 

 5 28. R. ARBO v REuai Smith. The scarlet-flowered Tree Rhododendron. 



Identification. Smith Exot. Bot., t, 6. ; Hook. Exot. FL, 158. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 844. 



Synonyme. R. purpureum Hamilt. MSS. 



Engravings. Smith Exot. Bot.,t. 6. ; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 896.; and OUT Jig. 951. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves lanceolate, acute, silvery beneath, tapering to the 

 base. Peduncles and calyxes woolly. Segments of corolla 2-lobed, with 

 crenulated curled mar- 

 gins. Capsules 10-celled, 

 tomentose. Leaves 4 6 

 in. long. Flowers large, 

 scarlet, dotted with black 

 on the upper lip in-side, 

 disposed in dense heads. 

 Stigma capitate, crenu- 

 lated. (Don's Mill., iii. 

 p. 844.) A tree, 20 ft. 

 high, very showy when in 

 blossom ; a native of Ne- 

 pal, on the mountains at 

 Narainhetty, where it is 

 called booram by the 

 natives. It was intro- 

 duced in 1817, and flowers, in conservatories, in April and May. Plants 

 in Knight's Exotic Nursery, sown there in 1821, are now, in 1836, 18ft. 

 high, with trunks 8 in. in diameter : they grow in pots 2 ft. in diameter, 

 and flower abundantly every year, or every other year. These flowers 

 secrete honey to such an extent, that, when the plant is shaken, it falls 

 from them like large drops of rain ; and Mr. Knight informed us that he 

 believed each head of flowers would yield from a teaspoonful to a dessert- 

 spoonful at a time. After being exhausted, a fresh supply is secreted ; so 

 that the quantity that one head might produce, if the tree were frequently 

 shaken, appears to be limited only by the duration of the flowers. 

 Varieties and Hybrids. 



1 R. a. 1 sanguineum Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 890., has the corollas blood- 

 coloured, and may be considered as the species. Those spoken of 

 above are of this kind. 



1 R. a. 2 roseum Swt. Brit. Fl.-Gard., 2d ser. t. 389., Bot Reg., t. 

 1240., has rosy-coloured corollas. This variety was raised by Mr. 

 Smith, at Combe House, in 1819, from Nepal seeds, and the plants 

 flowered when they were not more than 2 ft. high. According to 

 Dr. Wallich, R. a. roseum occurs with R. a. nfveum on the moun- 

 tain of Sheopore, at an elevation of 10,000ft. above the level of 

 the sea. It is likely, therefore, to be less tender than R. arboreum 

 sanguineum, which is found at a much lower elevation, and it may 

 ultimately prove to be quite hardy. There are plants of this sort 

 at Mr. Knight's and Messrs. Loddiges's. 



1 R. a. 3 niveum Swt. ; R. album Harnilt. MSS., Swt. Fl.-Gard., t. 148., 

 Don's Mill., iii. p. 844. ; R. arboreum floribus nf veis D. Don Prod. 

 Fl. Nep.,p. 154.; R. arboreum album Wall. Pl.Asiat. Rar., ii. t. 123.; 

 has white flowers spotted with purple on the upper lip. Dr. Lindley, 

 speaking of this variety, says, " Never did we behold any flmvrr 



