HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 259 



Then in the next following form of R. ponticum, we had not per- 

 haps such equal grandeur of inflorescence, but greater variety, and 

 the superior advantage of early spring flowering. Later introduc- 

 tions, such as R. dauricum, &c. kept up the interest without adding 

 anything to its previous fame, till a totally new class made its ap- 

 pearance from Nepal in 1S20, or thereabouts. This class, the R. 

 arborewn, more like our it. maximum in habit, form, and appearance 

 than any other, but considerably superior to it in the gorgeous 

 splendor of its flowers, seemed destined to throw it far into the 

 shade. Fortunately it did not prove sufficiently hardy to come into 

 competition with it, and hence arose our hardy and tender classes, 

 each indispensable in its own sphere. 



Although occasional novelties were introduced, nothing of much 

 interest occurred in the history of the Rhododendron till 1847, when 

 its admirers were thrown into astonishment by the announcement 

 that a yellow variety had been discovered in Java, which possessed 

 besides the property of blossoming at any season of the year. So 

 different is the appearance of this species that Dr. Bl ume, a cele- 

 brated botanist and describer of Japanese plants, made of it a dis- 

 tinct genus, under the name of Vireya javanica. So far the R. ja- 

 vanicum stands alone in its beauty. Two forms of it as yet only 

 exist in cultivation ; one with orange red, the other with yellow 

 flowers. Closely following this, came the Epiphytal kinds discov- 

 ered by Mr. Hugh Low in Borneo. A Rhodendron, growing on the 

 trunks and branches of trees in warm and damp forests, exactly in 

 the same manner as an air, or orchideous plant, created more excite- 

 ment in the floricultural world, than the discovery of any other 

 plant, the Victoria regia perhaps alone excepted. This prepared the 

 way for the future discoveries of Dr. Hooker. All who have seen 

 his beautiful engravings of the Rhododendrons of the Sikkim Him- 

 alayas, can bear testimony to their rare and exquisite beauty. 



Glancing again at their history, we perceive that it gives us four 

 classes, each recjuiring separate treatment in their cultivation. One 

 represented by maximum, another by ponticum, a third by Javanicum, 

 and the fourth Epiphytal kinds. 



