PLATE XVI. 



AZALEA PONTICA. 



Yellow Pontic Azalea. 



CLASS V. ORDER I. 

 PENTANDRIJ MONOGYNIJ. Five Chives. One Pointal. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Calyx. Perianthiuni monophyllum. quinque- 



partitum, acutum, ere&um, parvum, per- 



fiftens. 

 Corolla. Monopetala, campanulata, limbus 



quinquefidus : laciniarum lateribus in- 



flexis. 

 Stamina. Filamenta quinque, filiformia, recep- 



taculo inferta, libera. Anthers liraplices. 

 Pistillum. Germen ovatum. Stylus filitbr- 



mis, longitudine corolla, perfiftens. Stigma 



obtufum. 

 Pekicarpium. Capfula ovata, quinquelocularis, 



quinquevalvis. 

 Semina plurima, compreffa. 

 Obs. Figura petali in aliis infundibuliformis, in 



aliis campanifo:mis eft; ftamina in quibuf- 



dam declinata longiftima. 



SPECIFIC 

 Azalea, foliis ovato-oblongis, pilofis, alternis; 



floribus amplillimis, luteis; ftaminibus lon- 



giflimis, declinatis. 



Empalement. Cup one leaf with five divi- 

 sions, fharp pointed, upright, fmall, and 

 permanent. 



Blossom. One petal, bell-fhaped, margin five- 

 cleft: fegments with the edges bent in- 

 wards. 



Chives. Threads five, thread-ihaped, fixed to 

 the receptacle, and loole. Tips fimple. 



Pointal. Seed-bud egg-fliaped. Shaft thread- 

 ihaped, the length of the blolfom, perma- 

 nent. Summit blunt. 



Seed-vessel. Capfule egg-fliaped, with live 

 cells, and five valves. 



Seeds many, and flat. 



Obs. The fhape of the petal in fome is funnel- 

 fhaped, in others bell-fhaped ; the chives in 

 fome are bent downward, and very long. 

 CHARACTER. 



Azalea, with oblong egg-fliaped leaves, hairy, 

 and alternate; flowers very large, and yel- 

 low; chives very long, and bent downward. 



REFERENCE TO THE PLATE. 



1. The Empalement, (natural fize.) 



2. The Chives as they appear within the blolfom. 



3. The Seed-bud, Shaft, and Summit. 



4. A Capfule cut horizontally, expofing the number of its cells. 



America has furnifhed our gardens with an extenfive variety of beautiful fhrubs; amongft them, the 

 Azaleas hold a diftinguifhed place; fome for the beauty, others for the fragrance, of their blofibms: 

 the prefent fpecies far furpaffes all of them for both. It is a native of the coaft of the Black Sea, or 

 Pontus Euxinus, through the whole of its extent, on the Afiatic fide, from the city of Trebifonde; 

 from whence its trivial name. That a plant of fuch extreme beauty, and fweetnefs, fhould fo long 

 have been a ftranger to our European gardens, though known to, and described by, i'o many botanical 

 travellers, mull feem matter of wonder; but ftill it is an uncontefted fact. Monf. Tournefort, in his 

 Voyage to the Levant, has given an ample defcription of it, under the title of Chamajrhododendros 

 Pontica maxima, mefpili folio, flore luteo; where he fays, it grows to the height of feven or eight 

 feet, and that the flowers are of a moft exquifite flavour. Dr. P. Pallas, in his Flora Roflica, has like- 

 wife figured, and defcribed it, under the name it here bears; but apparently his drawing was made 

 from a dried fpecimen, as the brilliancy of the flower is by no means preferved ; but it is to him we 

 are indebted for this fine plant. In his voyage to the Crimea and countries adjacent, in l/p2. he 

 procured the feeds of this, amongft many other valuable and rare plants; parcels of moft of which 

 were fent by him to Melfrs. Lee and Kennedy, Hammerirnith; by whom plants were railed of it, and 

 many other forts, the next year. It is a deciduous fhrub, extremely hardy, and blows early in the 

 fpring; is propagated, like other Azaleas, by layers and feeds; grows beft in peat earth, with a fmall 

 portion of loam. 



