CHAP. LXIX. 



.ERICA'CE^E. TJHODODe'nDKON. 



1139 



940 



Variety. 



«- R. d. 2 atrovlrens Ker, Bot. Reg., 1. 194., Bot. Mag., t. 1888., Lodd. 

 Cat., ed. 1836, is subevergreen. Leaves deep green, and shining 

 above. It is a native of Siberia. 



R. lepidbtum Wall. (Roi/le Must., p. 260. t. 64. f. 1. j Don's Mill., 3. p. 845.) is a native of Nepal, 

 with the habit of R. dauricum, but with leaves of a thinner texture ; and with every part of the 

 plant beset with ferruginous scale-like dots. It grows to the height of 2 ft. or 3 ft., but has not yet 

 been introduced. 



§ iii. Chamcecistus D. Don. 



Derivation. From chatnai, on the ground, and cistus, the rock rose ; 

 plants with the habit of species of Helianthemum. Limb of calyx fo- 

 liaceous, 5-cleft. Corolla rotate. Stamens 10. Ovarium 5-celled. Di- 

 minutive, prostrate, evergreen shrubs, with small membranous leaves. 



«- 14. R. camtscha'ticum Pall. The Kamtschatka 

 Rhododendron. 



Identification. Pall. Fl. Ross., 1. p. 48. t. 33. j Don'sMill., 3. p. 845. 

 Engravings. Gmel. Sib., 4. p. 126. No. 13. ; and our Jig. 940. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves obovate, acutish, 5-nerved, 

 naked, ciliated, peduncles hairy, usually twin. Caly- 

 cine segments ciliated, foliaceous. Corollas purple, 

 rotate. (Don's Mill.,m. p. 845.) A prostrate shrub, 

 flowering in July ; a native of Kamtschatka and the 

 Aleutian Islands, in muddy places on the mountains. 

 Introduced in 1802, but rare in British gardens. There 

 are plants at Messrs. Loddiges's. 



JU 15. R. Chamjeci'stus L. The Ground-Cistus Rhododendron. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 562. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 854. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 



Engravings. Jacq. Fl. Austr., 3. t. 217. ; Bot. Mag., t. 488. ; Bot. Cab., t. 



1491. ; Michel. Gen., 225. t. 106. ; Pluk. Phyt., t. 23..f. 4.; and our^. 941. 



Spec. Char.y fyc. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, attenuated at 

 both ends, stiffish, glandularly ciliated. Peduncles 

 usually twin, and, as well as the calyxes, beset with glan- 

 dular hairs. Corollas rotate, pale purple. A dwarf 

 tufted shrub, with small leaves, about the size of those 

 of a species of Helianthemum. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 845.) 

 A native of the Alps of Europe, as of Austria, Carniola, 

 Mount Baldo, and near Salzburg; and in Eastern Siberia. 

 It grows about half afoot high, and flowers in May and 

 June. Introduced in 1786; but seldom to be met with 

 in British gardens. Having very small leaves, it may 

 without impropriety be introduced in such ericetums as 

 admit Daboe v c?'«, and other genera resembling the hardy 

 heaths in general appearance. 



§ iv. Pentanthera D. Don. 



Derivation. From pente, five, and anthera, an anther; flowers pentandrous. 



Sect. Char. Limb of calyx short, 5-lobed. Corolla funnel-shaped. Stamens 5. 

 Ovarium 5-celled. Leaves deciduous. This group includes the hardy 

 azaleas of the gardens, which have mostly deciduous leaves, and are quite 

 distinct in their appearance from the plants of the preceding groups of this 

 genus, which are all evergreen and subevergreen. We, therefore, think that 

 it would be much better to constitute this section the genus Azalea, and 

 retain as names for the species those in common use. The convenience of 

 such an arrangement, in gardens where there are so many hundred varieties 

 of Azalea, where so many are being annually produced, and where these 

 varieties are so much in demand, will be felt by every gardener. It may be 

 perfectly true, according to the usual principles of forming genera, that 

 Azalea and Rhododendron are not generically distinct ; but, when the ad- 

 herence to this rule of science, as it may be called, leads to so much con- 

 fusion and inconvenience as in the present case, in practice, we certain lv 



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