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RHODODENDRON.— RHODODENDRON, 



Natural order, Bicomes ; Rhododendra, Juss* 

 A genus of the Decandria Monogynia class. 



" O'er pine-clad hills, and dusky plains, 

 In silent state Rhodonia reigns, 

 And spreads, in beauty's softest blooms, 

 Her purple glories through the glooms." Shaw. 



The Greeks named this flowering shrub 

 PoSofevSpov, Rhododendron, from goSov, a rose, and 

 SevSpov, a tree. It was also called in that lan- 

 guage Rhododaphne, the rose laurel. Pliny 

 observes, that this plant was not so happy as 

 to have a name given it by the Latins, and it 

 is somewhat remarkable, that it should retain 

 to this day the original name throughout 

 Europe. 



The foliage of this shrub is a poison to 

 horses, asses, mules, sheep, and goats, &c. ; 

 yet it was anciently esteemed one of the best 

 counter-poisons to man, particularly against 

 the venom of serpents. 



Tournefort tells us that there is a kind of 

 rhododendron about Trebizond, whose flowers 



