BALFOUR—NEW SPECIES OF RHODODENDRON. 25 
Williams of Caerhays Castle, with whom at Werrington Park it 
flowered in spring of 1918. 
Rh. Baileyi is a plant of considerable botanical interest. It 
belongs to the Lepidotum series by the whole form and con- 
struction of its flower, but it introduces us to a divergence from 
the well-recognised type of this series both in its foliage and 
inflorescence. The foliage one would not at sight suppose to 
belong to an ally of Rh. lepidotum—the blades of the leaves are 
so much larger ; and then the inflorescence is a many-flowered 
raceme—its axis is as much as 2.5 cm. long. Of this latter 
character we have a foreshadowing in the new Bhutan species 
Rh. thyodocum, Balf. {. et Cooper (see p. 148) ; but there 8 flowers 
are apparently a maximum in the raceme, and its axis does not 
exceed 1 cm. in length. 
The Lepidotum series belongs to a section of Rhododendron 
to which Maximowicz gave the name Osmothamnus, a name 
which conveys about the only character which attaches to all 
the species that have been included in the section—they are 
aromatic shrubs. The Lepidotum series is a distinct phylum, 
and its marks are: Twiggy aromatic shrubs, lepidote all over 
stems and leaves flower-pedicels calyx and outside of corolla. 
Foliage-leaves convolute, before expanding, ciliate with decidu- 
ous marginal hairs. Flowers terminal solitary or in groups 
of 2 to 16 umbellately or racemosely arranged. Pedicels long 
pushing flowers above the leaves, at first at least, thickening 
and elongating in fruit. Calyx-lobes lepidote fairly developed. 
Corolla rotate flat ; limb as much as 3 cm. across vertical when 
expanded ; lobes more or less rounded auricled imbricate yellow 
or rose-purple spotted green orange or purple ; tube cup-shaped 
short not bearded. Stamens 8-10 exserted shorter than corolla ; 
filaments villous above base and within corolla-tube. Ovary 
short truncate sulcate and lepidote ; style equalling or slightly 
longer than ovary shorter than stamens clavate deflexed purple in 
purple flowers, yellow-white in yellow flowers ; stigma in middle 
of summit of style, lobulate. Capsule (where known) oblong or 
elliptic or conoid short not over 6 mm. long, dehiscing by 5 valves 
from apex to base which is invested by persistent calyx. 
We know seven species in the series :-— 
Rh. Baileyi, Balf. £. (1919)- S. Tibet : Upper Nyamjang Valley, 
at, s 10,000-14,000 ft. (Bailey) 
Rh. elaeagnotdes, Hook. f. Sikkim, 12,000-16,000 ft. (Hooker) ; 
: Bhutan, 13,000-—14,000 ft. 
(1849) 
(Cooper). 
Rh. lepidotum, Wall. (1834)- Nepal (Wallich): Sikkim, 12,000— 
ee 0854) 15,000 ft. (Hooker) ; N.W. Hima- 
laya, 10,000-14,000 ft. ; Bhutan, 
II,000—14,000 ft. (Cooper). 
