668 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



is said, in Oregon, to be poisonous to sheep. The substance andromedotoxin, 

 C 31 H 51 O 10 , a bitter principle, has been found in Rhododendron maximum. It 

 is extremely poisonous, even more so than aconitin, and more emetic than 

 emetin. Rhododendron ponticum contains the glucoside arbutin. 



Rhododendron occidentale A. Gray. California Azalea 



Shrub 2-6 feet high, shoots glabrous or minutely pubescent when young, 

 not bristly; leaves obovate-oblong, sometimes approaching lanceolate, bright- 

 green and shining above, minutely pubescent, glabrate, the margins minutely 

 hispid-ciliate ; scales of the flower-bud somewhat canescent; flowers appearing 

 after the leaves ; sepals distinct, oblong or oval, conspicuous ; corolla minutely 

 viscid-pubescent outside, white, with the upper lobe yellow inside; the narrow 

 funnel-form tube equalling the deeply 5-cleft slightly irregular limb; the lobes 

 ovate; stamens and style much exserted, moderately curved; capsule oblong. 



Fig. 379. California Azalea (Rhododendron occidentale). Flowering stem. Leaves are 

 said to be poisonous to stock. (From American Agriculturist.) 



