594 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS 



AZALEA 



and the species described below may be 

 as fitly called Rhododendrons as Azaleas. 

 There are no Azaleas in the Himalayas. 



Culture mid Propagation. ■ — Hardy 

 Azaleas may be cultivated and propagated 

 in exactly the same way as the Hardy 

 Rhododendrons described on p. 585. 

 They delight in a moist peaty soil and 

 will flourish in sunny or partially shaded 

 situations so long as they are not allowed 

 to suffer from drought during the summer 

 months. A light loamy soil will also suit 

 them well, provided it is free from lime, 

 and has a good quantity of leaf mould 

 mixed with it. The most effective way 

 to treat the plants is to grow them in 

 bold masses in beds by themselves on the 

 grass or in front of dense shrubberies 

 from which they will obtain protection 

 from cold winds. They are readily in- 

 creased by layering, but when possible a 

 stock should be raised from home-saved 

 seeds, as such plants are likely to prove 

 hardier than the others and may also 

 develop new and attractive shades of 

 colour. 



A. arborescens. — A deciduous Penn- 

 sylvanian shrub 10-20 ft. high. Leaves 

 rather bluntly obovate, smooth on both 

 surfaces, glaucous beneath. Flowers in 

 May, large, reddish, not clammy. 



Culture do. as above. 



A. calendulacea. — A beautiful decidu- 

 ous shrub 2-6 ft. high, found wild from 

 Carolina to Pennsylvania. Leaves oblong, 

 downy or hairy on both surfaces. 

 Mowers in May, yellow, red, orange, 

 with a hafry tube. There are many 

 garden varieties and hybrids which have 

 emanated from this species. 



Culture So. as above. 



A. dilatata. — A deciduous Japanese 

 shrub closely related to A. rhombica, and 

 producing its long-stalked bright rosy- 

 purple flowers in May. 



Culture do. as above. 



A. hispida. — A deciduous United 

 States tree 10-15 ft. high, with hafry 

 stems, and lance-shaped, glaucous leaves, 

 hafry above, smooth beneath. Flowers in 

 July, white, edged with red. Stamens 10. 



Culture Sc. as above. 



A. indica (Indiam Azalea). — A beauti- 

 ful Chinese shrub 3-6 ft. or more high. 

 Leaves oblong lance-shaped, hairy. 



Flowers bell- shaped, in ones, twos, or 

 threes, purple, red, white &c. 



Innumerable single and double varie- 

 ties, in all shades of colour, have been 

 produced from this species, and are 

 chiefly grown in greenhouses, but many 

 of the more vigorous varieties prove 

 hardy in the mild southern parts of Eng- 

 land and Ireland. Indeed in southern 

 Cornwall they are quite hardy, and in 

 such places they may be lifted in January 

 and gently forced into early blossom in 

 a cool greenhouse. A. amosna, a neat, 

 compact Chinese shrub 1-3 ft. high, with 

 a profusion of rich crimson flowers, is a 

 distinct variety of incUca, in conjunction 

 with which it has produced many fine 

 hybrids. A. baleaminaiflora is a Japanese 

 variety with beautiful salmon-red double 

 flowers resembUng those of a Balsam. 

 A. ohtusa has deep red flowers, and there 

 is also a white-flowered form of it. 



Culture do. as above. 



A. ledifolia (A. liUiflora). — A very 

 hairy Chinese evergreen 2-6 ft. high, 

 with elliptic lance-shaped leaves. Flowers 

 in March, pure white, showy, beU-shaped, 

 in threes at the ends of the branches. 

 Calyx clammy. 



Culture dc. as above. 



A. linearifolia. — An interesting Ja- 

 panese shrub, the yellowish branches of 

 which, covered with stiffish hairs, are 

 furnished with narrow Willow-like leaves 

 and rosy-violet flowers. 



Culture dc. as above. 



A. nudiflora. — A North American 

 shrub 3-4 ft. high. Leaves lance-shaped 

 oblong, almost smooth, fringed on the 

 edges ; the midrib bristly beneath, woolly 

 above. Flowers in April and May before 

 the leaf buds fully burst in terminal 

 clusters ; not clammy. 



Culture dc. as above. 



A. occidentalis. — A Californian species, 

 with elliptic green leaves and white 

 flowers, the upper lobe having a yeUow 

 blotch at the base of the upper segment. 



Culture do. as above. 



A. ovata. — A neat Chinese evergreen 

 shrub with ovate leaves and dark rosy 

 flowers. 



Culture dc. as above. 



A. pontica {Rhododend/ron flamum). 

 A native of the Levant, Caucasus &C., 

 4-6 ft. high. Leaves shining green, 

 ovate oblong, hafry ciliated. Flowers in 



