164 



The Form of R. Catawbiense 



If we examine a rhododendron shrub, which is growing in the 

 large plantation just referred to, or in any location away from the 

 forest, and compare it with a form growing among the balsams 

 we see certain variations in the plants themselves characteristic of 

 the different habitats. In the first place, the shrubs in the open 

 are not so tall, measuring 2—7 feet ; they are more rounded in 

 -outline; they are more dense and branch much more richly; and 

 an addition they flower more abundantly. The shrubs among 

 the trees, on the other hand, are often tall, slender and extremely 

 irregular in form, they branch but little, and they flower rela- 



FlG. 2. Rhododendron Catawbiense with young shoots or suckers springing from 

 the base of its branches. 



tively seldom. As an example of the habit of the latter I may 

 cite a plant of which one branch was over seven feet high and 

 unbranched, and which had not borne a flower. 



As will presently appear, the variation in habit just mentioned 

 lies primarily in the characteristic difference in the number of 

 flowers borne, and in the relation of the flowers to the axes of the 

 plant. 



A mature rhododendron shrub has no main stem with lateral 

 branches, but on the contrary, is composed of several shoots 

 likely of coordinate rank, which are of themselves branches, and 



