112 THE AZALEAS OP NORTH AMERICA 



(in Bull. Charleston Mus. XIII. 26) published A.atlantica as a 

 new species and three years later A. neglecta (in Bull. Torr. 

 Bot. Club, XLVII. 581 [1920]) here referred to R. atlanticum 

 as a form. One new species and several new varieties are 

 described in this paper. Of these recent species R. austrinum was 

 introduced into cultivation in 1914, R. oblongifolium in 1917 and 

 R. serrulatum and R. prunifolium in 1918, all through the agency 

 of the Arnold Arboretum. Rhododendron atlanticum has been 

 cultivated for several years by W. W. Ashe in Washington and 

 by Professor Coker in the Arboretum of the University of 

 North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rhododendron alabamense is the 

 only species not yet in cultivation. 



Soon after the introduction of the first American Azaleas to 

 England about 1730 they become favorite garden plants and at 

 the beginning of the last century there were already several 

 species and many varieties in cultivation which played an 

 important part among the so-called American plants. By 

 hybridization between themselves and with the Rhododendron 

 luteum introduced at the end of the 18th century and also with 

 evergreen Rhododendrons the garden forms began rapidly to 

 increase in numbers and in 1836 Loddiges cultivated in his 

 nursery near London, according to his catalogue, 107 varieties 

 and hybrids of R. viscosum and 43 varieties of R. nudiflorum and 

 several other species and varieties. The delicate coloring of some 

 and the brilliancy of others, combined with a delicate fragrance in 

 several species and the hardiness of almost all these Azaleas, 

 made them very desirable and favorite garden plants both in 

 England and on the Continent. Hybridization in the seventies 

 with R. japonicum added a new race of hybrids which are per- 

 haps even more showy in some respects but weaker in constitu- 

 tion than the older hybrids generally known as Ghent Azaleas. 

 It is, however, doubtful if any of these hybrids surpass in the 

 brilliancy of their flowers the true species like R. calendulaceum 

 and R. speciosum which had almost disappeared from European 

 gardens until recently reintroduced. 



The American Azaleas are chiefly confined to the Appalachian 

 Mountains and the adjoining regions and to the Atlantic and 

 Gulf coast region; only one species, Rhododendron occidentale,'is 

 found in the Pacific states from southern Oregon to southern 

 California. No Azalea occurs south of the United States bound- 



