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and conllituting the fiftieth in Jufliea's feries, orthefecond 

 of his ninth clafs ; for the chara&ers of which clafs fee 

 Ericf- and Guaiacan;e. The following arc the marks of 

 the order in queftion. 



Cn/yx divided, permanent. Corolla inferted into the bot- 

 tom of the calvx ; fometimes of one petal, and lobed ; 

 fometimes ahnoit polypetalous, the limb being fo very 

 deeply divided. Stamens definite, diflindl ; in the monope- 

 talous genera inferted into the corolla ; in the reft into the 

 bafe of the calyx. Germen fuperior ; ftyle one ; ftigma 

 fimple, often capitate. Capfule fuperior, of feveral cells, 

 and feveral valves, both margins of each valve inflexed, and 

 connected with the central axis, (or columella,) fo that each 

 forms a cell, containing numerous minute feeds. Stem 

 fhrubby, more or lefs lofty. Leaves alternate, or more 

 rarely oppoiite ; the young ones, in many inftances, revo- 

 lute at the margin. 



Section i. Corolla monopetalous. 



Kalmia, Rhododendrum, and Azalea ; all Linna-an genera ; 

 to which is to be added Menziesia ; fee that article. 

 Seft. 2. Corolla imperj'eP.ly polypetalous. 

 Rhodora, Ledum, Be/aria, ^now more correclly written 

 Bejaria, by Venteiiat and others ; the Spaniards having 

 pointed out the error, which originated in a miftake of Lin- 

 naeus, in reading Mutis's manufcript,) and /tea ; all likewife 

 Linnaean genera. 



Juffieu confiders the Rhododendra as effentially diftin- 

 guifhed from his Erica, by the want of horns to the anthers, 

 and efpecially by the inflexed margins of the valves of the 

 capfule. It does not appear to us that thefe characters are, 

 either of them, (trictly abfolute. Mr. Salifbury has long 

 ago obferved, that the leaves of the Rhododendra have 

 always a remarkable glandular tip. 



RPIODODENDRUM, from poJov, a rofe, and &vV», a 

 tree, a name adopted by Linnaeus from Diofcorides, whofe 

 |sJ;«'|i.! however is but a fynonym to his »>ipiov, our Nerium, 

 or Rofe -bay ; the p'oSoSa &n of the modern Greeks. — Linn. 

 Gen. 218. Schreb. 294. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 2. 603. Mart. 

 Mill. Did. v. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 3. 49. Purlh v. 1. 

 297. Jufl". 158. Lamarck Illuftr. t. 364. Gsertn. t. 63. 

 — Clafs and order, Decandria Monogyn'ia. Nat. Ord. Bi- 

 corncs, Linn. Rhododendra, Jufi. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, in five deep fegments, 

 permanent. Cor. of one petal, widely funnel-fhaped ; 

 its limb fpreading, with five rounded unequal fegments. 

 Stam. Filaments ten, thread-fhaped, about the length of 

 the corolla, declining ; anthers incumbent, oval, abrupt, 

 of two cells, opening by two terminal pores. Pijl. 

 Germen with five angles, abrupt ; ftyle thread-fhaped, 

 the length of the corolla ; ftigma obtufe. Peru. Capfule 

 ovate, iomewhat angular, of five or ten cells, formed by 

 the inflexed margins of the valves, which finally feparate 

 from the five or ten-angled central column. Seeds nu- 

 merous, minute. 



Eft. Ch. Calyx inferior, in five divifions. Corolla of one 

 petal, fomewhat funnel-fhaped, irregular. Stamens declining. 

 Capfule of five or ten cells ; partitions from the indexed 

 margins of the valves. 



I. R.ferrugineum. Rufty-leaved Rhododendrum. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 562. Willd. n. 1. Ait. n. 1. Jacq. Obf. fafc. 1. 

 26. t. 16. Auflr. t. 255. — Leaves fmooth ; rufty beneath. 

 Clufters terminal. Corolla with a cylindrical leprous tube. 

 Calyx fringed. — Native of heathy plains on the alps of 

 Switzerland, Savoy, Auftria, Siberia, and the Pyrenees, 

 flowering in Augufl. It is not difficult of culture with us, 

 in bog earth, on an open border, and is one of the moft ele- 

 gant of fhrubs. The Jlem is about two feet high, very 

 bufhy. Leaves evergreen, Hulked, alternate, elliptic-ob. 



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long, an inch or an inch and a half in length ; convex, 

 fmooth, and dark mining green above ; rufty beneath, but 

 deftitute of all pubefcence. Flowers above half an inch 

 long, in terminal roundifh clutters ; their corolla of a pecu- 

 liarly rich and beautiful crimfon, externally dotted with 

 white. Haller fays there is a rare white-flowered variety. 

 The plain ot mount Cenis glows with the rich blufloms of 

 this plant in July and Auguft, exhibiting one of the moft 

 lovely fcenes in nature. See Smith's Tour on the Con- 

 tinent. 



2. R. hirjacum. Hairy Rhododendrum. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 562. Willd. n. 4. Ait. n. 3. Jacq. Auftr. t. 98. (Le- 

 dum alpinism ; Cluf. Hiil. v. I. 82. Ger. Em. 1290. 

 Ballamum alpinum Gefneri ; Lob. Ic. 367.) — Leaves ellip- 

 tic-obovate, Iharpifh, fringed ; dotted beneath. Corolla 

 with a cylindrical leprous tube. — Native of the Swils and 

 Auftrian alps. Cultivated, like the former, in this country ; 

 flowering rather earlier. This is moft nearly related to R. 



ferrugineum, next to which therefore we prefer placing it. 

 The chiet diftinftion confifts in the leaves being fringed with 

 rigid hairs ; their form more obovate and flat, and their un- 

 der fide lefs rufty. We never could perceive much difference 

 in th&Jlo'wers, except perhaps thofe. of hirfutum being ra- 

 ther paler, and more of a pink hue. 



3. R. dauricum. Daurian Rhododendrum. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 562. Willd. n. 2. Ait. n. 2. Pall. Rolf. v. 1. t. 32. 

 Curt. Mag. t. 636. Andr. Repof. t. 4. (Chamaerhodo- 

 dendros folio glabro majufculo, amplo flore rofeo ; Amm. 

 Ruth. 181. t. 27.) — Leaves elliptic-oblong, dotted, naked. 

 Corolla nearly wheel-fhaped. — Native of Siberia, in moun- 

 tainous fituations. It fucceeds in our gardens with the fame 

 treatment as the two foregoing, but flowers much earlier, 

 and though evergreen in its own country, is lefs perfectly fo 

 with us ; requiring moreover fome fhelter for its blolfoms, 

 during the feverity or uncertainty of our winter or early 

 fpring. The leaves are dotted on both fides with minute 

 fcales, and their midrib is, when young, a little downy. 

 Flowers rofe-coloured, nearly feflile ; their corolla widely ex- 

 panded, with fcarcely any tube, its outfide (lightly hairy, not 

 leprous. Mr. Andrews feems to have printed " petiolis Ion- 

 gijfimis," by miftake for" breviffimis," as the footjlaiks are 



in faft very (hort. 



4. R. camtfehaticum. Barberry -leaved Rhododendrum. 

 Pall. Roil', v. 1. p. 1. 48. t. 33. Willdi n. 3. (Cham*. 

 rhododendros berberis folio, flore amplo roieo ; Gmel. Sib. 

 v. 4. 126.) — Leaves obovate, fringed, fmooth, reticulated 

 with veins. Corolla wheel-fhaped. Found by Stellcr, in 

 mountainous fpots in Bcering's illand, and the north-eaft 

 part of Kamtfchatka, floweiing in July and Augult. The 

 ihrubbyy/cmj arc procumbent, branched, about a foot long. 

 Leaves (talked, obovate, an inch or more in length, blunt, 

 witli a very final] point, fringed at the margin, but fmooth 

 on both fides, dcttitute of dots or fcales, of a thin texture, 

 ftrongly and copioufly reticulated with interbranching ribs 

 and veins. Flowers role-coloured, larger than Use lull, being 

 nearly two inches wide, each on a long, folitary, hairy, ter- 

 minal italk. Segments of the calyx flat, oblong, obtufe, 

 ribbed and veiny, fometimes very hairy externally, fome- 

 times only fringed at the edges. This very (liowy plant is 

 mentioned in Mr. Aiton's Epitome of Hort. K.ew. 373, as 

 having come into the hands of our cultivators in 1 799, but 

 we have never met with it in any garden. 



5. R. ChamtrciJIus. Thyme-leaved Rhododendrum. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. s6z. Willd. n. c. Ait. n. 4. Jacq. Auflr. t. 2 17. 

 Curt. Mag. t. 488. (Ledum Joins lerpilh, ad marginet 

 cilii inllar pilofis, flore purpureo ; Mich. Gen. 225. t. 106. 

 Ciflus humilis aullriaca Clufii ; Ger. Em. 1278.)— Lcavei 

 obovate, acute, fringed, pohllnd, ahnoit veuilcfs. Corolla 



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