CHAPTER VIII 

 INDIAN AZALEAS 



Rhododendron indicum (Azalea indica) was first introduced 

 into Holland from China in 1680, but it appears to have 

 gone out of cultivation long before it was re-introduced in 

 1830, when a Captain Daniels brought plants of it from 

 China to England. These were purchased by Mr. Knight, a 

 nurseryman in King's Road. There were five varieties, two 

 large-flowered, two reds, and one double red. There is 

 no record of seedlings being raised in Europe until long 

 after this, the many varieties then cultivated in England and 

 elsewhere having been obtained from China, where, accord- 

 ing to Fortune, they were largely cultivated in gardens, and 

 where only ( he was able to find any that he considered 

 worthy of introduction. These Chinese varieties were, 

 however, largely propagated in England, France, and Bel- 

 gium, mainly by grafting and layering. There were also 

 in cultivation at the beginning of the nineteenth century 

 several natural varieties of R. indicum, namely, macran- 

 thum, Simsii, ledifolium, liliiflorum, and album. According 

 to Duval, the introduction in 1843 of a variety known as 

 vittatum led to the raising of seedlings. Messrs. Knight 

 and Perry, Ivery and Rollison, in England ; L. Eeckhaute, 

 J. Vervaene, Haerens, van Houtte, van Geert, A. Verschaffelt, 

 J. de Kneep, and van der Cruyssen in Belgium ; Lesebe, 

 Truffaut, H. de May, and Mabire in France ; and Schulz, 



