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laurel, but not in flower in the middle of June ; it does not blos- 

 som before July. Like the American laurel, this species, as a 

 rule, does not occur in the higher altitudes. 



Both of the species just mentioned may be seen from the 

 wagon road going to the top of Roan, but the other two occur 

 only on the summit, or in places more or less remote from the 

 main traveled way. I know of only two places about five 

 miles apart on Roan, where the flame-colored azalea grows, and 

 there it is represented by only a few specimens. In both cases 

 the altitude is above 5,000 feet. I presume, however, it may 

 occur in lower altitudes and in favorable, that is, warm locations. 



When, on the way to the summit of Roan, Carver's Gap with 

 an altitude of 5,400 feet is reached, the road turns sharply to the 

 westward and ascends in several " switchbacks " through a 

 second-growth and open balsam forest nearly to the top of Roan 

 High Knob, which it skirts on the way to the hotel (Cloudland). 

 It is on the side of the High Knob, among the groups of balsams, 

 that the visitor gets his first glimpse of the mountain laurel. 

 This is in blossom in June. The rounded shrubs, about six feet 

 high, are covered with bouquet-like clusters of large lilac-purple 

 flowers, which are richly set among the dark green leaves. As 

 the hotel is reached, or, better still, if Roan High Knob is 

 ascended, the visitor gets such a view as he is likely not soon to 

 forget. Some distance to the westward on a rounded lower 

 summit a huge bed of rhododendron spreads out which mounts 

 by an easy incline to the other high eminence, Roan High Bluff. 

 In the distance the individuality of each plant is lost, and the 

 massing of the blossoms of thousands of shrubs produces a wealth 

 of color on the summit, beautiful beyond description. 



The leading Plant Formation on Roan 

 But not every rhododendron even in fruitful years is so richly 

 laden as those just described. The abundance of flowers is pri- 

 marily associated with the local distribution of the shrub, and 

 also with other facts of significance in its biology, as with its 

 form and duration of life. In order better to understand this, and 

 also before going further into the subject, it may be best to 



