2 THE AZALEAS OF THE OLD WORLD 



the red-flowered Azalea of the country so abundant on the hills 

 from the coast to the extreme west, from near sea-level to 1300 m. 

 altitude. So common is it that in May much of the country- 

 side is a blaze of red. For years I unhesitatingly accepted this 

 plant as the Azalea indica of Linnaeus, considering the differ- 

 ence in the number of stamens an unimportant triviality. In 

 1912-13, when working up the Rhododendron material for Sar- 

 gent's Plantae Wilsonianae in conjunction with my colleague, 

 Alfred Rehder, I became conscious that all was not so simple 

 as I had assumed. The question as to what Azalea indica really 

 was began to arouse my interest. On the occasion of the Arnold 

 Arboretum Expedition to Japan in 1914 I devoted much time 

 to the problem, and in Yaku-shima in February collected an 

 Azalea which later I discovered to be the true Azalea indica of 

 Linnaeus. I questioned many botanists in Japan, but none at 

 that time had any definite views on the subject. Nevertheless, 

 by deduction and comparative study I arrived at the conclusion 

 that the group of Azaleas cultivated in Japan under the name 

 "Satsuki" all belonged to Linnaeus' species and that the ma- 

 terial collected in Yaku-shima was its wild parent. On my re- 

 turn to the Arnold Arboretum early in 1915 I critically com- 

 pared the material I had collected with Linnaeus' description 

 and with the old figures on which his species was based, and the 

 proof of this theory was absolute. 



Japan is so rich in Azaleas, both wild on the mountains and 

 cultivated in gardens, parks and temple grounds, that at the 

 end of 1914 I felt that beyond establishing the identity of 

 Azalea indica I had acquired no more than a moderate working 

 knowledge of the group. My interest, however, was keener than 

 ever. Being favored with another opportunity to visit the 

 Orient I determined to devote as much time as possible to the 

 study of these Azaleas. During 1917 and 1918 I visited many 

 places famous in Japan for Azaleas and gathered specimens and 

 information from all sides. On my visits to Korea, Liukiu and 

 Formosa I collected much new material. The result is that on 

 my various visits to the Chinese and Japanese Empires I have 

 seen growing wild, with few exceptions, every species known 

 from those regions and almost every known variety and garden 

 form. In Japan in 1914 and again in 1917-18 I received in- 

 estimable assistance from Mr. H. Suzuki, President of the 



