CULTIVATED SPECIES 103 



R. flavum. Caucasus, &c. 1798. A deciduous shrub, 

 with twiggy, smooth branches, ovate, hairy leaves, green 

 tinged with brown. Flowers 2 inches wide, in compact 

 umbels, base tubular, lobes speading, irregular, bright yellow, 

 fragrant. Generally known as Azalea pontica. Said to be 

 poisonous. One of the parents of Ghent Azaleas. Hardy. 



R. Fordii. China. 1894. A compact shrub up to 8 

 feet. Evergreen. Leaves lance-shaped, leathery grey-green, 

 brown and felted beneath, 3 inches long. Flowers in loose 

 corymbs, with large brown bracts, corolla bell-shaped, 2 

 inches across, pink outside, white inside, with crimson spots. 

 Tender. 



R. formosum. Bhotan, &c. 1815. A shrub 3-8 feet. 

 Evergreen, twiggy. Leaves 1-3 inches, varying in size and 

 form, glabrous or hairy, glandular beneath. Flowers in 

 loose corymbs, bell-shaped, 1-4 inches long, with large 

 spreading lobes, white or tinged with pink, fragrant, calyx 

 with small teeth, sometimes hairy. Variable, and repre- 

 sented in gardens by several distinct forms. Tender. 



R. Fortunei. China. 1859. A sturdy shrub up to 12 

 feet high. Evergreen. Leaves oblong, dull-green above, 

 glaucous beneath, with purplish petioles. Flowers in loose 

 racemose heads, saucer-shaped, 3-5 inches in diameter, 

 generally divided into seven lobes, white, tinged with pink, 

 very fragrant. Hardy. 



R.fulgens. Sikkim, 14,000 feet. 1851. A sturdy shrub 

 up to 10 feet. Evergreen. Leaves ovate, 3 inches long, 

 rust-hairy beneath, dark green above. Flowers in small, 

 dense heads, blood-red, bell-shaped, i inch long, five-lobed. 

 Hardy. 



R. glaucum. Sikkim, 12,000 feet. 1850. A shrub 

 2 feet. Evergreen. Leaves oblong, scaly, glaucous beneath, 



