FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 421 



Name. 



*RhododendronAscot 

 Brilliant 



*R. Shilsoni 



R. Harrisii 



Gripfithianum 



Group. 

 *R. Aucldandi 



Country or 



Origin and 



Natural Order. 



Raised by 

 Mr. Standish 



Raised by Mr. Gill, 

 gardener to Mr. H. 

 Shilston,Tremough, 

 Penrhyn, Cornwall, 

 between R. Thom- 

 soni and R. bar- 

 batum 



Colour 



AND 



Season. 



A hybrid raised by 



Mr. Harris, at one 



time gardener to 



Lord Swansea ; 



the parents are 



R. Thomsoni and 



R. arboreum 



Himalaya 



Rich 



scarlet ; 



mid and 



late May ; 



a peculiarly 



brilliant 



colour 



Crimson 



Red; 

 early 

 Spring 



White ; 

 May 



General Remarks. 



This is a flower of wonderful 

 colour, and the whole shrub in 

 growth, size of calyx, texture, 

 and clusters reminds one 

 strongly of R. Thomsoni. It 

 is of dwarf and bushy growth , 

 and flowers with great free- 

 dom. 

 This beautiful hybrid combines 

 the good qualities of both 

 parents. It resembles R. 

 barbatum in height and R. 

 Thomsoni in foliage, and the 

 flower truss is compact as in 

 the former parent, with the 

 larger, more fleshy leaves of 

 the latter. It is an excep- 

 tionally fine Rhododendron 

 for Cornwall, but at Kew is 

 grown in a cold house, al- 

 though a small plant with- 

 stood the winter of 1901-2 

 outside without injury. 

 This is a hybrid of much inte- 

 rest, and flowers freely when 

 quite small. It is apparently 

 quite hardy, but would be 

 happier in the south than 

 elsewhere. 



The group, in which the Hima- 

 layan species griffithianum, 

 better known as R. Auck- 

 landi, is most marked, is 

 composed of a number of 

 large-flowered hybrids which 

 vary considerably in size of 

 flower and colouring. It is 

 probably the finest species of 

 Rhododendron in existence, 

 and named in honour of 

 Lord Auckland, a Governor- 

 General of India, by Sir 

 Joseph Hooker. It appears, 

 however, to have previously 

 been named after Griffith, 

 the Indian botanist, whose 

 name it ought now properly 

 to bear. It carries its flowers 

 in large, loose trusses, and 

 individually they are fre- 

 quently 6 inches across. This 

 Rhododendron, we believe, 

 ranks first in the genus in 

 regard to the size of its 

 bloom. Six or eight of these 

 are borne in a truss, and they 

 are pure white when once 

 fuUyexpanded, although pink 



