ENUMERATION OF THE SPECIES 25 



Hermann in his Academici Horli lugduno-batavi catalogus 152. fig. (1687), de- 

 scribes and figures it under the name of " Cistus Indicus, Ledi Alpini foliis & 

 floribus amplis." He cites Breyne and says the plant came from Jaccatra (that 

 is Batavia, Java). Hermann's figure though crude is easily recognized as repre- 

 senting the plant we are discussing and can in fact be identified with no other 

 species. Doubtless it was taken by Dutch trading ships from Nagasaki to Batavia 

 and from there to Holland. Ray in his Historia Plantarum II. 1895 (1688) men- 

 tions it, citing Hermann and Breyne. On this plant of Breyne, Hermann and Ray, 

 Linnaeus (Spec. 150 (1753)) bases his Azalea indica so there can be no mistake as 

 to its identity even though Linnaeus gives the habitat as the East Indies, and 

 cites " Tsutsusi Kaempfer Amoen. 845, t. 846," which is Rhododendron obtusum 

 var. Kaempferi Wils. The plant of Breyne and Linnaeus is Kaempfer's " Token, 

 vulgo Satsuki, Cytisus Liliifer autumnalis Tsutsusi congener," of which he men- 

 tions (Amoen. Exot. fasc. V. 849 (1712)) five kinds, including single and double- 

 flowered red and white forms. 



Linnaeus' species was introduced into England in 1833 by Mr. M'Killigan to 

 Knight's Nurse in Chelsea under the name of Azalea indica lateritia and flowered 

 there for the first time in May 1834. About the same time forms differing slightly 

 in color were brought from China to England by officers commanding the East India 

 Company's trading ships and named Azalea Danielsiana? R. macranthum and R. 

 decumbens. According to Hovey (Mag. Hort. V. 25 (1839)) Azalea lateritia and 

 A. Danielsiana were introduced from England into Boston, Mass., in 1838. Up to 

 about 1845 color forms, many of seedling origin, of R. indicum were more numerous 

 in our gardens than those of R. Simsii and these with forms of R. phoeniceum 

 and R. mucronatum (Azalea ledifolia) collectively constitute the Azalea indica of 

 the period. It is recorded that on March 13, 1837, ten varieties of Azalea in- 

 dica were exhibited at Ghent by Mr. Charles Deloose and awarded a gold medal. 

 After 1850 the true Rhododendron indicum and its forms rapidly dropped from 

 cultivation and the name was appropriated for the varieties of the Chinese R. 

 Simsii Planch. Aiton in 1810 and Sims in 1812 were first to unite the Japanese 

 and Chinese plants; Sweet in 1832 made the Chinese plant a variety of R. indicum. 

 The rest of the story is told by the synonomy, but that the confusion is complete is 

 proved by the fact that to-day Linnaeus' plant is absolutely unknown to gardens 

 under the name he gave it. In fact it has become more or less lost to cultivation, 

 although its double-flowered form, balsaminaeflorum, is well known and appre- 

 ciated. R. indicum is really a very pretty species and well adapted for rockeries 

 in mild, moist countries, and is about as hardy as R. obtusum f. amoenum Wils. 

 I sent seeds and plants of it from Japan to the Arnold Arboretum in 1914. The 

 Azalea "J. T. Lovett " of American gardens, claimed to be of hybrid origin 

 is nothing but the true R. indicum. Up to about 1850 several varieties of this 

 Azalea were cultivated under the name of "Indian Azaleas" and in all proba- 

 bility hybrids between it and R. Simsii Planch, were obtained. Such old varieties 

 as "The Bride " with white flowers, and Van Houtte's Azalea indica punctulata, 

 A. punctulata variegata, A. punctulata omnicolor (Fl. des Serr. XVI. 17, tt. 1618- 

 1623 [1865]) are, I think, hybrids between the two species. In the evolution of 

 the large-flowered " Indian Azalea " of commerce of to-day I doubt if R. indicum 

 has had any part. The fact that it cannot be forced by strong heat to blossom out 

 of season is against it, since this is a marked feature of the " Indian Azaleas " of 

 greenhouses to-day. When grafted on the vigorous R. phoeniceum the size of the 

 flowers is increased. 



A form with white flowers is: — 



Rhododendron indicum f. hakatashiro Millais, Rhodod. 193 (1917). 



