14 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



The number of species now known is about 300, their 

 distribution being as follows : 



China and Japan . . . , . 162 



British India . . . . . 46 



Malaya . . , . , . . 62 

 North America . . . . . .16 



Orient . . . . . . , . N 6 



Europe ........ 4 



Siberia 3 



Arctic Regions ...... 2 



One is reported as being wild in Australia on Bellenden 

 Ker Mountain at an elevation of 5000 feet, where it is said 

 to form a tree 20 feet high,. 



CHINESE 



The following interesting note on the Rhododendrons 

 of China is by Mr. E. H. Wilson, who has during his 

 several botanical expeditions to that country discovered 

 many new species and sent home fresh seeds of them from 

 which plants have been raised : 



" In China, the genus Rhododendron extends from sea- 

 level to the limits of ligneous vegetation. It is the largest 

 genus recorded from China, no fewer than 150 species 

 being known. I myself have collected 80 species, and 

 about 20 of these are new to science. Seedlings of these 

 are now at Kew and in other collections, and we may 

 therefore hope soon to become acquainted with them as 

 garden plants. There is no heather (Calluna or Erica) in 

 China, and its place on the alpine moorlands is taken by 

 dwarf, small-leaved Rhododendrons such as R. fastigiatum, 

 R. nigro-punctatum, R. intricatum, and R. blepharocalyx. 



