BALFOUR—NEW SPECIES OF RHODODENDRON. 167 
the year red, the surface cells unequally impregnated with red 
secretion giving a finely blotched smooth surface epilose and 
ceca (but for perhaps an occasional scale), twigs a year old 
about 2 mm. in diameter becoming grey smooth glabrous, 
pcan usually in the third year. Buds large fusiform 
few at the ends of the shoots and below the terminal inflorescence: 
outermost scales crustaceous rounded or broadly ovate sparingly 
lepidote on back and ciliate, inner ones oblong-ovate densely 
lepidote and ciliate, innermost membranous spathulate obtuse 
mucronate greenish with fan-shaped venation lepidote outside 
and hair-ciliate particularly at top carried up on elongating axis ; 
young leaves conduplicate-convolute becoming revolute as they 
expand their upper surface glabrous, under surface lepidote, 
altogether epilose. Leaves petiolate as much as 7 cm. long ; 
lamina thinly leathery oval or elliptic or oblong-oval as much 
as 6 cm. long 3 cm. broad, apex rounded or obtuse the midrib 
ending in a tuberculate hydathode not stalked and often deflexed, 
margin cartilaginous smooth, base rounded or broadly obtuse; 
upper surface bright green mat smooth glabrous, midrib and 
primary veins (about 8 on each side of midrib) slightly red-tinted 
and slightly raised ; under surface paler green with a yellowish 
white glabrous midrib and the rest of venation appearing as a 
fine sunk reticulation, surface lepidote with brown equal uni- 
formly distributed discontiguous peltate scales each with stalk 
sunk in shallow pit and a disk with broad concave umbo bounded 
by an orange-coloured annulus and a whitish-grey narrow fringe, 
green intervals between the scales wider than the scales which 
are about 3-4 in asq. mm. ; petiole as much as 1.2 cm. long red- 
tinted and blotched grooved epilose elepidote or most sparingly 
lepidote. Umbels solitary terminal usually 4-flowefed ; bracts 
early deciduous, unknown ; bracteoles linear expanding spathu- 
lately at top shortly puberulous throughout at top lepidote on 
back with a conspicuous white hair-crest about 1.5 cm. long ; 
lamina tenuiter coriacea ovalis vel elliptica vel oblongo-ovalis ad 6 cm. longa 
3 cm. lata, apice rotundata vel obtusa, margine cartilaginea vix dae hea integra 
o 
dense lepidotum ; stylus basi paullo puberulus sub stigmate discoideo lobulato 
in labium angustum expansus 
4 
