RHODODENDRON 



brushes against the filaments, which fly up and scatter their 

 pollen over his bod)'. He leaves on the stigma of the next 

 flower he visits the pollen he has gathered in the first, and 

 so on he goes from flower to flower. He probably thinks 

 that gathering honey is his business, but as a matter of fact 

 it is a very small part of his duties in the economy of nature. 

 The Mountain Laurel is one of the most satisfactory 

 shrubs for lawn or garden. When in full bloom it is of sur- 

 passing'beanty, and its bright evei'green leaves make it con- 

 spicuous at any time. These leaves are believed to be poi- 

 sonous to cattle, and the species, Kalmia angiistifolia, a low 

 shrub in pastures, is popularly called Lambkill ; but the 

 probability is that its noxious qualities have been overrated. 

 The best observers are inclined to refer what deleterious 

 qualities there may be to the coarse, resinous character of 

 the leaves which make them indigestible than to any positive 

 noxious principle contained in them. 



RHODODENDRON. GREAT LAUREL. ROSE BAY 



Rhododendron 'maximum. 



In the north a shrub with many divergent stems and contorted 

 branches, ten or twelve feet tall. Roots fibrous. Distributed from 

 Nova Scotia to shores of Lake Erie and southward to northern Geor- 

 gia. Common on the mountains of New York, it becomes abundant 

 in Virginia, and on the high lands of Tennessee and the Carolinas it 

 forms dense thickets hundreds of acres in extent. Flourishes in all 

 soils except those containing lime. 



Bark. — Reddish brown, scaly. Branchlets at first green, covered 

 with red or rusty tomentum, later become reddish brown or gray 

 tinged with red. 



Wood. — Light brown ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 

 0.6303 ; weight of cu. ft., 39.28 lbs. 



Winter Buds. — Leaf buds clearly seen in midsummer, conical, 

 dark green, axilhiry or terminal, on barren shoots covered with 

 closely imbricated scales. Outer scales persist until shoot is half 

 grown ; inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot and are carried 

 up with it. Flower-buds are full grown by September, terminal, 

 cone-like, an inch and a half long, covered with many imbricated 

 bracts which contract at the apex into long slender points. 



i8q 



