BALFOUR—NEW SPECIES OF RHODODENDRON. I4I 
spicuously a nearly equal distribution of dark scintillating 
rufous contiguous scales and paler-coloured ones, the former 
projecting beyond and more or less overarching the latter where 
they touch and thus giving a bistrate character to the whole 
covering. Other distinguishing marks of the species are : most 
minute fleshy epilose lepidote calyx, violet-coloured corolla 
lepidote outside with campanulate tube puberulous inside, 
stamens shorter than corolla puberulous near base, disk 
puberulous, ovary epilose, style glabrous longer than corolla. 
Its lepidote corolla distinguishes it at once from most of the 
species with purple-tinted flowers in the set. Rh. achroanthum, 
Balf. f. et W. W. Sm. and Rh. rupicolum, W. W. Sm. alone have 
the character and they are very different species. Rh. capitatum, 
Maxim. and Rh. violaceum, Rehd. et Wils. are the only other 
West Chinese species with purple-tinted flowers of the set and 
the former is distinguished by its virgate habit, flower trusses, 
pilose calyx and style ; the latter by its habit never producing 
the intricate ultimate branchlets of Rh. stictophyllum, ciliate 
calyx, funnel-shaped corolla with longer tube villous at the 
throat, longer corolla-lobes and other minor marks. 
Of the set of species in the Lapponicum series which have 
the under-leaf indumentum punctulate with dark rufous scales 
few in number compared with the paler scales no one can be 
mistaken for Rh. stictophyllum. The forms of this set which 
have lepidote corolla all have a sparsely punctulate under-leaf 
indumentum and their habit except in the case of Rh. telmaterum, 
Balf. f. et W. W. Sm. is different. In addition to the dis- 
tinguishing character of absence of scales from the outside of 
the corolla the other species of this set may be separated 
from Rh. stictophyllum thus :— 
Rh. alpicolum, Rehd. et Wils. has a hairy style shorter than 
the stamens: in the var. strictum, Rehd. et Wils. the style is 
glabrous but it is still shorter than the stamens. : 
Rh. thymifolium, Max. has the style also shorter than the 
stamens and has a virgate habit, and a very different under-leaf 
indumentum—grey and shining. 
Rh. nigropunctatum, Bur. et Franch. 1s described as a plant 
of a few inches high densely branched from the base with virgate 
branches above, the ovate-lanceolate leaves very shortly stalked, 
flowers solitary, calyx campanulate with lanceolate deltoid 
subacute lobes, corolla shortly tubular. It was obtained in 
1890 by Bonvalot and Prince Henri d’Orleans somewhere 
between Lhasa and Batang. I have not seen it but I cannot 
bring the species described here as Rh. stictophyllum within the 
description given by Bureau and Franchet of their species. The 
presence of peltate scales on the margin of the calyx-lobes in 
