ERICACEAE. (HEATH FAMILY.) 299 



17. AZALEA, L. False Honeysuckle. Azalea. 



Calyx 5-parted, often minute. Corolla funnel-form, 5-lobed, slightly irregu- 

 lar ; the lobes spreading. Stamens 5, with long exserted filaments, usually 

 declined, as well as the similar style : anthers short, opening by terminal pores, 

 pointless. Pod 5-celled, 5-valved, many-seeded. Seeds scale-like. — Upright 

 shrubs, with alternate and obovate or oblong deciduous leaves, which are entire, 

 ciliate, and mucronate with a glandular point. Flowers large and showy, often 

 glandular and glutinous outside, in umbelled clusters from large scaly-imbri-' 

 cated terminal buds. (Name from dfrXeos, arid, — most inappropriate as ap- 

 plied to our species, which grow in swamps.) 



* Flowers appearing after the leaves. 

 1. A. arborescens, Pursh. (Smooth Azalea.) Branchlets smooth ; 

 leaves obovate, obtuse, very smooth both sides, shining above, glaucous beneath, the 

 margins bristly-ciliate ; calyx-lobes long and conspicuous ; corolla slightly clammy ; 

 stamens and style very much exserted. — Mountains of Penn. to Virginia, and 

 southward. June. — Shrub 3° -10° high, with thickish leaves, and very fra- 

 grant rose-colored blossoms larger than in No. 3. 



2. A. visebsa, L. (Clammy A. White Swamp-Honeysuckle.) 

 Branchlets bristly, as well as the margins and midrib of the oblong-obovate 

 otherwise smooth leaves ; calyx-lobes minute; corolla clammy, the tube much longer 

 than the lobes; stamens and especially the style exserted. — Var. glauca has 

 the leaves paler, often white-glaucous underneath or both sides, sometimes rough- 

 hairy. — Var. nitida is dwarf, with oblanceolate leaves green both sides. — 

 Swamps, Maine to Kentucky, mostly near the coast. June, July. — Shrub 4° 

 -10° high, with clammy fragrant flowers, white or tinged with rose-color. 



* * Flowers appearing before or with the leaves. 



3. A. nudiflora, L. (Purple A. Pinxter-flower.) Branchlets 

 rather hairy; leaves obovate or oblong, downy underneath; calyx very short; 

 tube of the corolla scarcely longer than the ample lobes, slightly glandular ; stamens and 

 style much exserted. — Swamps, Massachusetts and New York to Illinois, 

 and southward. April, May. — Shrub 2° -6° high ; the showy flowers varying 

 from flesh-color to pink and purple. There are numberless varieties, some of 

 them with 10 stamens. 



4. A. calendulacea, Michx. (Flame-colored Azalea.) Branchlets 

 and obovate or oblong leaves hairy ; calyx-lobes oblong, rather conspicuous ; tube of 

 the corolla shorter than the lobes, hairy ; stamens and style much exserted. — Wood>, 

 mountains of Penn. to Virginia, Kentucky, and southward. May. — Shrub 

 3° -10° high, covered just when the leaves appear with a profusion of large 

 orange blossoms, usually turning to flame-color, not fragrant. 



18. RHODODENDRON, L. Rose-bay. 



Calyx 5-parted, minute in our species. Corolla bell-shaped or partly funnel- 

 form, sometimes slightly irregular, 5-lobed. Stamens 10 (rarely fewer), com- 

 monly declined : anthers, pods, &c. as in Azalea. — Shrubs or low trees, with 

 evergreen entire alternate leaves, and ample showy flowers, in compact terminal 



