516 WILSON EXPEDITION TO CHINA 



Western Szech'uan: south-east of Taehien-lu, thickets, alt. 

 2000-2500 m., May and October 1908 (No. 1275, type); same locality, 

 margins of woods, alt. 2300 m., June and October 1908 (No. 1274); 

 same locality, thickets and woodlands, alt. 3000-3300 m., October 

 1910 (Nos. 4280, 4239); vicinity of Tachien-lu, on cliffs, alt. 2300- 

 3000 m., September and October 1908 (Nos. 1223, 1276) ; same locahty, 

 alt. 2100-3300 m., July 1903 and 1904 (Veitch Exped. Nos. 3947, 

 3950 and seed No. 1535); Ching-chi Hsien, Ta-hsiang-ling, thickets, 

 alt. 2000-2500 m.. May and October 1908 (No. 1352); Ching-chi 

 Hsien, Fei-yueh-ling, thickets, alt. 2000-2600 m., May 25, 1908 (No. 

 3426). 



This species is closely allied to R. chartophyllum Franchet, which differs chiefly 

 in its oblong or narrowly lanceolate leaves, very sparsely lepidote below, longer 

 pedicels and larger flowers. We hesitated in making this a distinct species until, 

 through the courtesy of the Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, we received 

 a specimen of Franchet's species from a cultivated plant. Our new species is also 

 growing at Kew, where the two plants look decidedly different. Hemsley & Wilson 

 (in Kew Bull. Misc. Inform. 1910, 115) refer Nos. 3947 and 3950 to R. rigidum 

 Franchet and R. siderophyllum Franchet, respectively. The specimens in this 

 herbarium under those numbers have certainly nothing to do with these species. 



Rhododendron Davidsonianum is a very common plant in exposed sunny situa- 

 tions in the vicinity of Tachien-lu and we suspect the specimens collected in 

 that neighborhood by SouHe and referred by Franchet (Jour, de Bot. 1895, 398) 

 to R. chartophyllum Franchet belong here. The species ia very floriferous, the mass 

 of flowers almost hiding the small, neat foliage. No. 3426 has leaves up to 8 cm. 

 long and the shoots appear very vigorous. 



Rhododendron racemosum Franchet in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 

 XXXIII. 235 (1886). — Hemsley in Jour. Linn. Soc. XXVI. 28 

 (1889). — Watson in Garden, XLII. 320, t. (1892). — Hooker f. in 

 Bot. Mag. CXIX. t. 7301 (1893). — Bean in Flora & Sylva, III. 165 

 (1905). — Rehnelt in Gartenfl. LVII. 561, fig. 67, t. 1577, fig. 1 

 (1908). — Hemsley & Wilson in Kew Bull. Misc. Inform. 1910, 120.— 

 Forest in Gard. Chron. ser. 3, XL VII. 343, fig. 147 (1910). 



Rhododendron racemosum, var. rigidum Rehnelt in Gartenfl. LVII. 561, fig. 68, 

 t. 1577, fig. 3-4 (1908). 



Western Szech'uan: Ching-chi Hsien, Ta-hsiang-ling, thickets, 

 alt. 2000-2600 m.. May 16, 1908 (No. 3428; bush 2 m. tall, flowers 

 pale rosy-pink). 



This plant is very rare in Szech'uan, but is abundant in north-western Yunnan. 



Rhododendron lutescens Franchet in Bull. Soc. Bot. France, 

 XXXIII. 235 (1886); in Nouv. Arch. Mus. Paris, s^r. 2, X. 52 {PL 



