XVIII 

 THE EVERGREEN RHODODENDRONS 



Rhododendron arboreum 



barbatum 



catawbiense 



ferrugineum . . Alpine Rose 



fulgens 



griffithianum 



maximum . . Rose Bay, or Great Laurel 



Metternichii 



,, ponticum * . Pontic Rhododendron 



PRINCES among shrubs the Rhododendrons in 

 their massiveness and grandeur hold unques- 

 tioned their supremacy. Though they belong 

 to the Heath family the Ericacece and have the 

 heaths and the bilberry for British relatives, yet they 

 are in a section of the family that is entirely foreign 

 and quite unrepresented in our native flora. The first 

 suggestion of a Rhododendron in this country lies in a 

 vague statement that Peter Collinson of Mill Hill, the 

 friend of Linnaeus, introduced from America about 1738 

 the beautiful Rose Bay or Great Laurel (R. maxi- 

 mum) ; from definite knowledge we know that this 

 shrub grew and flowered in a Mile End nurseryman's 



garden in 1755. With the Rose Bay the Rhodo- 



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