PART ir. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE RHODODENDRON. 



Rhododendron Ponticum. 



' I "HIS species has been longest in cultivation, and 

 -*- tliere are in England many very large plants. 

 It does not grow very tall, the largest of which we 

 have any record being about fifteen feet high ; but it 

 spreads its branches over a large space, and is not 

 unfrequently found thirty feet in diameter. Many 

 of the large plantations in England are of this species, 

 and it is extensively planted for game covers, as the 

 buds are not eaten by rabbits. Seedlings are very 

 easily raised, and are furnished by nurserymen for 

 about twenty shillings per hundred for flowering 

 plants a foot .high. It grows freely in any good 

 loam, and flowers abundantly. 



The flowers are purplish, and, though in the mass 

 very showy, are wanting in substance. The foliage, 

 though good, is by no means so handsome as in 

 many other species. 



This species is a native of Armenia, the Levant, 

 Georgia, the Caucasus, and various parts of Asia 

 extending to the Himalaya Mountains. 



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