300 GENERAL REVIEW. 



their parentage, will be interesting to those who wish to see the 

 relative influence of the male or female parents : 



R. Nobleanum. Female, Caucasicum ; male, Arboreum. 



JR. Altaclarense. Female, Catawbiense ; male, Arboreum. 



R. Russelliamim. Female, Catawbiense, var. ; male, Arboreum. 



R. Nobleanum album. Female, Caucasicum; male, Cinnamonicum. 



R. coriacea. Female, Caucasicum; male, Catawbiense. 



JR. ' Cunningham's White.'' Female, Maximum ; male, Caucasicum. 



The beautiful hybrids obtained by the hybridists aroused the 

 energy of other cultivators ; and Mr Smith of Norbiton, near 

 Kingston, succeeded in fertilising R. ponticum with pollen from 

 Azalea sinensis, the result being a beautiful race of hybrid vari- 

 eties, of which we may name R. aureum (see Paxt. ' Mag. of 

 Bot.,' vol. ix. p. 79), decorum, amcenum, carneum, flavescens, 

 norbitonense, and elegantissimum. Of these, the best or one 

 of the best was aureum, which seems to be now very rare, 

 as I remember a gentleman asking in the gardening journals 

 in 1874 for information as to where he could get a plant of 

 *' Smith's Aureum " without any response. These hybrids were 

 raised about 1836, and five of the most distinct (including the 

 first variety obtained viz., R. norbitonense) were exhibited in 

 Ghent in 1839. In 1844, another series of these beautiful 

 hybrids was obtained, among which were R. aureum superbum, 

 Burlingtonii, Broughtonianum, cupreum elegans, Jenkinsonii, och- 

 roleucum, spectabile grandiflorum, and " Victoria Regina." (See 

 Herbert's ' Amaryllidaceae,' p. 356 and 359, for other interest- 

 ing hybrids of Rhododendron Azalea, &c.) 



R. prcEcox (see ' Revue Hort.,' 1868, p. 2ri) is an exceed- 

 ingly floriferous rosy-flowered hybrid between R. ciliatum and 

 R. dahuricum, and being an early-flowering plant it deserves 

 the attention of the hybridiser. Crossed with other early forms 

 which bear forcing well, such as R. Nobleanum, we might 

 obtain an early-flowered and valuable race of varieties of great 

 value for pot-culture indoors; and with the help of Messrs 

 Veitch's hybrids of the greenhouse section, we may girdle the 

 year with Rhododendrons as well as with Roses. 



Figures of the earlier species of Rhododendron are given in 

 .the 'Botanical Magazine:' R. Catawbiense, t. 1671; R. pon- 

 ticum, t. 650; R. maximum, t. 951. The "flowers of the last- 

 named species are light rosy pink and white, like apple-blossom. 



R. caucasicum is a white - flowered species, having green 

 spots on the upper petals and suffused with rose behind. The 

 leaves are deep green above and rufous below (see ' Bot. Mag.,' 

 t. 1145). 



