'HARDY" RHODODENDRONS 253 



pale yellow flowers appearing before the leaves and is 

 native of the valley of the Apalachicola River in 

 western Florida; the second has white or pale pink 

 flowers which appear after the leaves and is native 

 of southern Georgia; the third species (R. flammeum) 

 is common in open woods in parts of central Georgia. 

 The Western R. occidentals with its lovely white flowers 

 has not yet been successfully acclimatized in the Arnold 

 Arboretum. 



The Chinese R. sinense has large, rich yellow flow- 

 ers and is almost hardy with us; the other east Asiatic 

 species (R. japonicum) is perfectly hardy and its 

 large flame-colored flowers are very handsome. These 

 species grow from four to six feet high and have stiff 

 and relatively thick ascending branches. The re- 

 maining species (R. luteum, or incorrectly R. flavum), 

 commonly known as Azalea pontica, is not hardy in 

 the Arnold Arboretum. It has been much used in 

 hybridizing as we shall presently see, but it is doubt- 

 ful if the true species is in cultivation in this country. 



As shown above there is a great range of color in the 

 American Azaleas and being perfectly hardy one 

 would naturally expect to find them very generally 

 planted in the gardens of eastern North America. 

 Such, however, is not the case for the simple reason 

 that it is difficult to procure them, for very few Amer- 



