DECIDUOUS SPECIES 7 



species cross freely with each other, hybrids from the two 

 being now in the nursery of Mr. Thompson, at Mile End." 

 American botanists, however, do not accept this view, for 

 they continue to call all their deciduous species or Swamp 

 Honeysuckles, Azaleas, limiting Rhododendron to the ever- 

 green, Laurel-like plants. British horticulturists also prefer 

 to keep the two separate, and for garden purposes there is 

 no good reason why they should not do so. In gardens, 

 therefore, are the following : Rhododendrons, represented 

 by R. caucasicum, R. arboreum, R. hirsutum, and R. javani- 

 cum ; Indian Azaleas, represented by R. indicum and R. 

 Kcempferi ; and Swamp Honeysuckles, represented by R. 

 viscosum, R. calendulaceum, R. sinense, and R. flavum. 



The deciduous species are all natives of North America 

 and Northern Asia, including China and Japan. All those 

 found in the Himalayas and the Malaya are evergreen. It 

 is remarkable that a solitary deciduous species, R.flavum, 

 is found in Asia Minor, and another, R. sinense, in China. 

 The Malayan Rhododendrons have a well-marked char- 

 acter in their flowers, which are fleshy and tubular, as in 

 the tuberose ; in colour they are some shade of yellow or 

 red, whilst the leaves are coriaceous and evergreen. The 

 nearest approach to them among the Himalayan species 

 is R. cinnabar inum. A few species differ widely from 

 the others ; R. Kamtschaticum, for example, a low-growing 

 shrub, 6 inches high, with deciduous leaves and Azalea- 

 like, solitary carmine flowers, 2 inches across, is quite 

 unlike any other species. Then there are some with 

 Heath-like leaves, others with the aspect of Myrtles, and 

 so on. 



The genus is decidedly protean, and whilst all the species 

 possess special characters which differentiate them from 



