BALFOUR—NEW SPECIES OF RHODODENDRON. 131 
included in the Linnean paper, and therefore some interesting 
Manipur forms of Rhododendron have been unnoticed up till 
now of which this is one. Sir George Watt has sent to me his 
MS. of 1883 dealing with Rh. Macabeanum, Watt, and I give 
its story here for an account of the species written shortly after 
observation of it in its native habitat :— 
“ Rhododendron Faiconert, Hook. fil., var. Macabeanum, nov.; 
leaves elliptic not cordate nor obtuse but tapering, under surface 
densely coated with long white soft felt ; flowers nearly twice 
as large as in the type form of Falconert, beautiful bright yellow 
(instead of creamy white) with large purple spots at the base 
and ascending streaks ; stigma large bright scarlet (not green) 
and undulated. 
“ Japvo and the Barrail Range in the Naga Hills, and Ching 
Sow and the higher Burmah-Manipur hills. Alt. 8000—g000 feet, 
forming dense brushwoods often covering entirely the summits 
of hills (7.e. summit of Japvo, etc.), rarely scattered through 
other forests as in Sikkim but often associated with bushy 
Rhododendrons. 
“* A tree 40 to 50 feet in height with short stem soon branch- 
ing into more or less whorled ascending branches forming a 
crowded dome. Stem and branches having every foot or so 
isolated annular swellings with a central groove as if they had 
been formerly compressed and distorted by a climber. Leaves 
large spreading in whorls of 4 to 5 not rough and granularly 
ferruginous felted below (as in Falconert) but matted with deli- 
cate soft white wool changing into a beautiful fulvous and ulti- 
mately with age becoming quite black. Seedlings glabrous and 
brown-coloured below, the felt commencing upon the veins of 
the 3rd and 4th leaves and gradually spreading over the entire 
surface.* Leaf-buds large erect $ foot long embraced by long 
bright brown or red scales elongating and producing their leaves 
in May immediately after the flowers have fallen. Flowers 
2 inch long and 1} broad quite tubular with 8 short imbricating 
broad undulate or crumpled and emarginate lobes. Bracts 
broad ovate acuminate much shorter and more caducous than 
in Falconeri. Stamens 16, anthers brown opening by terminal 
pores and discharging masses of white pollen grains. Stigma 
large undulated, scarlet. Ovary coated with white hairs as are 
also the pedicels. Fruit 16-valved bursting into 4 plates lined 
by the gill-like valves. 
* Sir George Watt here notes a feature in the life of Rhododendrons which 
has been generally overlooked by observers, namely, the late appearance 
of indumentum upon the young plants, and its gradual spread over the surface 
in successive leaves until the adult form shows the complete covering from the 
first. (See Bot. Soc. Trans. Edin., xxvii (1917),'222.) 
