BALFOUR—NEW SPECIES OF RHODODENDRON. 295 
Rh. fragrans, Maxim. as an Eastern Siberian species only, for 
Thomson’s Kishtwar plant is Rh. hypenanthum, Balf. f., of 
the Anthopogon series. Whilst taking a N.W. Himalayan 
plant which had been for so long confused with Rh. anthopogon, 
Don as part of Rh. fragrans, Maximowicz differentiated RA. 
anthopogon, Don itself, for he says of Rh. fragrans: ‘‘ Antho- 
pogoni non parum affine,” and gives diagnostic characters. 
In this Maximowicz was right, and the differences are even 
greater than he stated them to be. Rh. fragrans belongs to 
a group other than that of Anthopogon. Notwithstanding 
Maximowicz’s precise statements, C. B. Clarke,* when dealing 
with Rh. anthopogon, Don as an Indian plant, brought Rh. fragrans 
(with its synonymy as given by Maximowicz) into the chimaera 
which he created under the name Rh. anthopogon. See p. 291. 
Rh. fragrans does not appear as a plant of cultivation, and I 
do not suppose it has any features making it more desirable in 
horticulture than many of the aromatic shrubs of the Antho- 
pogon and the Cephalanthum series. It must not be confused 
with the Rh. fragrans, Hort. which, according to De Candolle,f is 
only the American Rh. maximum, Linn. The scent there comes 
from the flower; in Maximowicz’s plant from the vegetative 
shoots. Inthe herbarium at Kew are specimens of Rh. fragrans, 
Maxim. collected by Adams at the Lena and by Turczaninow 
between Jakutzk and Ochotzk, and in the herbarium of the 
British Museum there is also a specimen from Eastern Siberia. 
To the heads of these herbaria I am indebted for allowing me 
to examine the specimens from which I have made up the 
following description of Rh. fragrans which may be of use in 
further critical study of this series of Rhododendrons :— 
Rhododendron fragrans, Maxim.—Small aromatic shrub about 
30 cm. or more high erect with many spreading branches. 
Branches a year old about 1.5 mm. in diameter densely clad 
with a fulvous coating of peltate scales with some setae formed by 
the stalks of scales from which the disk has fallen. Older branches 
slightly scabrid then becoming dirty grey and ultimately the 
hard bark splits off. Buds small with few scale-leaves ovoid, 
scale-leaves falling early; outer scale-leaves about 3 mm. long 
ovateacute mucronulate keeled crust ly coriaceous fulvously 
lepidote along the keel elsewhere adpressedly puberulous, margin 
slightly membranous and very finely shortly ciliate puberulous 
inside, inner scale-leaves oblong spathulate submembranous 
with a median vein but hardly keeled and hardly mucronulate 
about 5 mm. long and 2 mm. broad outside puberulous, margin 
finely ciliate inside puberulous. Leaves up to 2 cm. long 
* Clarke in Flora of Brit. Ind., iii (1852), 472- 
+ De Candolle, Prod., vii (1838). 
