266 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



nately it has been very little used by hybridists but 

 such offspring as Boule de Niege, Coriaceum, Jack- 

 sonii, and Mont Blanc are very satisfactory plants in 

 the Arnold Arboretum. 



Our native R. maximum, though the first species 

 introduced into cultivation, has played a very unim- 

 portant part in the evolution of present-day Rhodo- 

 dendrons. In a manner it has been disappointing, 

 yet it is questionable whether it has had a fair chance. 

 To us its hardiness and late flowering are qualities 

 of vast import. 



The first authentic hybrid is considered to have 

 arisen accidentally about 1820, between R. ponticum 

 and R. nudiflorum (an American species of the Azalea 

 section), and is still in cultivation under the names of 

 R. odoratum and R. azaleoides. About the same time 

 R. catawbiense was crossed with R. ponticum but the 

 results were unimportant. Other early hybrids were 

 Hybrid Maximum (R. ponticum x R. maximum) and 

 Caucasicum album (R. ponticum album x R. cau- 

 casicum). 



The earliest-introduced species were lacking in 

 color and their hybrid offspring had the same defect. 

 In 1811, the Himalayan R. arboreum with intense red 

 flowers was introduced into England and this marked 

 an epoch in the cult of the Rhododendron. The first 



