264 BaLFourR—NEW SPECIES OF RHODODENDRON. 
Species Rh. sino-grandi, Balf. f- et W. W. Sm. proxima foliis 
longe cuneatis breviterque petiolatis, pedicellis longioribus 
tenuioribus minus tomentosis distincta. 
Yunnan. Kari Pass. Mekong- Yangtze Divide. Lat. 
27° 40’ N. Alt. 13,000 ft. Shrub of 20-30 ft. Flower? In 
rhododendron forests. Forrest. No. 13,023. Aug. IgI4. 
A large-leaved species, of which we hope to learn more from 
cultivated plants than is possible from the two specimens 
collected by Mr. Forrest, one with ripe fruits, the other passing 
into fruit and with withered flowers. It is a species of the 
Grande group, having the characteristically veined leaves with 
white indumentum of floccose interwoven hairs forming a 
shining crust-like coating on their under side. The long cuneate 
leaves separate it from its Chinese ally Rh. sino-grande, Ballf. f. et 
W. W. Sm., as also from the two Indian species of the group, the 
Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan Rh. grande, Wight, and the Manipur 
Rh. Macabeanum, Watt. Rh. grande is a wonderfully constant 
type in form of leaf—long oblong leaves always widest at the 
middle. Rh. Macabeanum has wider leaves than Rh. grande 
and they may become somewhat rotund but seem to be always 
widest at the middle. Rh. sino-grande also is consistent with 
this type, only in one large leaf have I seen the tendency to 
obovate showing. Here in Rh. praestans, Balf. f. et W. W. Sm. 
the leaves are always widest close to the apex and then taper 
gradually and regularly in cuneate fashion to the base. The 
inflorescence is much less compact than in Rh. stno-grande, the 
rhachis is longer, the pedicels thinner, and they as well as the 
calyx are much less tomentose than in Rh. sino-grande. 
The corolla in our specimens is much shrivelled and is 
attacked by an Ascomycete which has formed its small round 
black fructifications all over the surface. These in the dried 
state shrink from their summit into cup-like disks extremely like, 
and at first glance to be mistaken for, the scales which appear 
so abundantly on the corollas of many species of Rhododendron, 
making them quite lepidote. The disease is one affecting many 
species of Rhododendron. 
Rh. praestans may be regarded as the northern representa- 
tive in Yunnan of the southern Rh. sino-grande. 
yer Rhododendron proteoides, Balf. f. et W. W. Sm. 
