80 
shaped stigma. The five long stamens are inserted with the 
corolla at the base of the tube, and a deep hairy groove extends 
down the center of each lobe of the corolla to the nectar, at its 
base. The leaves are oval or obovate, tapering to a short eal 
and unequal in shape and size; usually five to seven are bor: 
at the summits of naked branches, like the flowers ee a an 
unsymmetrical rosette. 
Azalea nudiflora was described by Linnaeus in 1762 in the 
second edition of his ‘Species Plantarum” and he cites Peter 
Kalm’s description. In Kalm’s travels under the date of May 5, 
1749, he says: ‘‘Early this morning I went to Rapaapo, New 
Jersey which is a great village, inhabited by Swedes. . . . The 
Mayflowers, as the Swedes call them, were plentiful in the woods 
wherever I went to-day; especially on a dry soil, or one that is 
somewhat moist. The Swedes have given them this name, be- 
cause they are in full blossom in May. Some of the Swedes and 
the Dutch call them Pinxterbloem (Whitsunday flowers) as they 
really are in blossom about Whitsuntide. The English call them 
Wild ae and ata distance they have some similarity 
he Honeysuckle, or Lon Dr. Linnaeus, ther 
botanists, ai it an Azalea. pe en re now open, 
d ‘Ww ornament to the woods, ee little inferior to ie 
flowers of the Honeysuckle and Hedysarum. They fit ina circle 
round the stem’s extremity, and have either a dark o or a lively 
red color; but, by standing for some ame, the sun bleaches them, 
and at last they get a whitish hue.’ 
This species ranges from Maine to Florida and Texas, ascends 
to 3,000 feet altitude in Virginia and has been reported from 
Canada. About forty species of Azalea have been described from 
North America and Asia, many have been cultivated for their 
beauty, and many hybrids are known. Seven species are known 
to grow in the United States, of which the orange-colored Flame 
Azalea of the Southern States is the showiest and the White 
Swamp Azalea the most fragrant. The Heath Family or Erica- 
ceae, to which they belong, tnehides about fifty-five genera and 
one thousand and fifty species, widely distributed, mostly in cool 
temperate regions in which the Laurel and Rhododendrons are 
