430 BRECK’S NEW BOOK OF FLOWEBS. 
The best hedges we have seen were those where the 
plants were placed in a single line, six inches distant from 
each other. 
RHODODENDRON,—Rosz-zay. 
(The ancient Greek name, meaning rose-tree.] 
Rhododéndron maximum. — Great Laurel. —In the 
Northern States this is a straggling shrub of very irregular 
growth, but one of the most magnificent in foliage and. 
flower the country can boast of It is abundant in the 
Middle States, and in the mountainous tracts of the South- 
ern, but rare in New England. 
It is generally under ten feet in height in this part of 
the country, but sometimes attains the height of twenty 
or twenty-five feet in a less rigorous climate. The places 
where it is found in New England, may be considered as 
beyond its proper natural limits, and it is met with only 
in warm swamps, under the shelter of evergreens, and 
where the roots are protected by water, which usually 
overflows these places. 
The flower-buds are often destroyed, even when it is 
thus situated, in very severe seasons. When the leaves 
are beginning to unfold themselves they are rose-colored, 
and covered with red down. When fully expanded, they 
are smooth, five or six inches long, of an elongated oval 
form, and of a thick texture. They are evergreen, and 
partially renewed once in three-or four years. It puts 
forth flowers in June and July, which are, commonly, rose- 
colored, with yellow or orange dots on the inside, and 
sometimes pure white, or shaded with lake. They are 
always collected at the extremity of the branches, in beau- 
tiful groups, which derive additional lustre from the foli- 
age that surrounds them. Previous to their expansion, 
