CHAPTER IV 

 HYBRIDS 



BEAUTIFUL as are many of the species of Rhododendron, 

 and adapted as they are to the conditions of climate and 

 soil of most parts of the British Islands, at the same time 

 they are not all first-class garden plants. Either they get 

 spoilt by frost, or they fail to set their flowers, or their colours 

 are not pleasing, or their habit is imperfect. It is therefore 

 fortunate that they will hybridise freely, and that breeders 

 early took advantage of this. The popular garden sorts 

 are, for the most part, seedlings which have descended from 

 hybrids raised nearly a century ago. Comparatively few of 

 the species have yet been turned to account in this way, 

 though Rhododendron fanciers are active enough now in 

 breeding from such species as are likely to yield new types. 

 The earliest hybrid Rhododendron whose history is 

 recorded was produced about the year 1820 by the nursery- 

 man, Mr. Thompson, Mile End Road, through the acci- 

 dental crossing of R. ponticum with R. nudiflorum (Azalea 

 nudiflora). This hybrid is in cultivation to-day under the 

 name of R. odoratum or R. azaleoides, and is remarkable for 

 its agreeable fragrance and good behaviour under ordinary 

 conditions. Other crosses between true Rhododendrons 

 and Ghent Azaleas have since been raised, and the name 

 Azaleodendron was proposed for them by the late Dr. 

 Masters. The pretty, Honeysuckle-like R. Williamsii is one 

 of these. The first really important hybrid was R. alta- 



