10 THE AZALEAS OF THE OLD WORLD 



seeds of Azaleas and by this means introduced into Petrograd R. 

 reticulatum G. Don and R. linearifolium var. macrosepalum Mak. 

 Maximowicz also introduced plants of R. linearifolium S. & %., its 

 variety macrosepalum and R. scabrum G. Don. In 1861 a Hollander, 

 J. B. Groenwegen, claims to have received direct from Japan seeds of 

 R. japonicum Suring., one of the most valuable of all hardy Azaleas. 

 Crossed with the Chinese R. molle G. Don this has given rise to the 

 lovely but short-lived Kosterianum hybrids; all these, again mixed 

 with the so-called Ghent hybrids (R. luteum X American species), have 

 produced the race of Azaleas named X R. mixtum Wils. 



Under each species and variety the story of its introduction is re- 

 corded, so in this historical chapter I need not repeat it. Curiously 

 enough the most common and one of the most conspicuously beau- 

 tiful Azaleas of Japan, with flame-red flowers and figured by Kaempfer, 

 was ignored until 1892, when Professor Sargent sent seeds to the 

 Arnold Arboretum where it has proved not only perfectly hardy but 

 one of the most valuable exotic plants. This and R. japonicum, raised 

 by Professor Sargent from seeds sent from the Jardin des Plantes in 

 1876, were the first oriental Azaleas to be raised from seeds in America. 



Turning to Korea there is little to say, for prior to the beginning of 

 this century the Occident had received no living plants or seeds direct 

 from that country. A common Azalea of Korea, the lovely R. Schlip- 

 penbachii Maxim., found its way to Japan, and from there was sent to 

 England by James H. Veitch in 1893. The first seeds of an Azalea 

 sent from Korea was in 1905 when Mr. J. G. Jack sent to the Arnold 

 Arboretum seeds of R. yedoense var. poukhanense Nakai, a hardy species 

 of compact habit with rose-purple, fragrant flowers. 



From the Liukiu Islands no Azaleas, either plants or seeds, have been 

 sent direct to the Occident, but the large-flowered R. scabrum G. Don, 

 better known as R. sublanceolatum Miq., endemic there, was long ago 

 brought to Japan, and in Kyushu in particular it is a common garden 

 plant. This Azalea was apparently in cultivation in England when 

 G. Don wrote his General System in 1834, but seems to have been lost 

 soon afterward. Maximowicz in 1864 sent it to Petrograd, but it ap- 

 pears to have been unknown in England when reintroduced by Mr. 

 Notcutt in 1911. The only Formosan Azalea introduced into Europe 

 prior to my visit in 1918 was R. Oldhamii Maxim, which was raised by 

 Messers Veitch from seeds sent in 1878 by Charles Maries. The 

 Philippine Island species has not yet been introduced. 



