rhodode'ndron. 



244 



rhodode'ndron. 



being to grow the plant in good soil, 

 and to allow it plenty of room for its 

 roots. 



Rhodode'ndron. — Ericacece. — 

 The Rose Bay. Well-known ever- 

 green shrubs, and low trees, with 

 splendid flowers ; which are generally 

 grown in sandy peat, kept rather 

 moist. Though one of the most com- 

 mon of the kinds, R. ponticum, is a 

 native of Asia Minor, and others are 

 natives of other parts of Asia, and 

 of Europe, the greater number of 

 them being American, the part of 

 the garden in which they are grown 

 is generally called the American 

 ground. The Rhododendrons vary 

 very much in size, as well as in the 

 colours of the flowers, some being 

 trees and others trailing shrubs. The 

 handsomest of the tree kinds is the 

 Nepaul species, R. arboreum, which 

 grows about twenty feet high, with 

 immense bunches of dark scarlet or 

 crimson flowers, which have the rich 

 hue of velvet. These flowers secrete 

 honey in such abundance, that when 

 the tree is shaken the drops of liquid 

 honey fall from it like rain. The 

 leaves are large, and silvery beneath. 

 There are several varieties, one of 

 which has wax-like white flowers, 

 and another cream-coloured flowers ; 

 others have the leaves rusty beneath. 

 Most of the tree Rhododendrons are 

 too tender to stand the winter in the 

 open air; but a rose-coloured va- 

 riety of R. arborea, and that with 

 snow-white flowers, are nearly hardy. 

 Of the shrubby kinds, R. ponticum, 

 which is quite hardy, is the most com- 

 mon, and the one that has produced 

 the greatest number of hybrids and 

 varieties. Plants of this species are 

 frequently trained with single stems 

 four or five feet high before they are 

 suffered to throw out side branches ; 

 and thus treated they form very 

 handsome small trees. R. maxi- 

 mum, in America, attains the 



height of twelve or fifteen feet, but in 

 England it neither grows nor flowers 

 freely. The leaves are of a pale yel- 

 lowish green, and they generally look 

 drooping, as though the plant wanted 

 water. It is remarkable that it was 

 grown twenty years in England before 

 it produced a single flower. In its 

 native country it is always found 

 growing upon rocks near water ; and 

 it would probably thrive in a similar 

 situation in this country. R. cataw- 

 biense is a hardy American species, 

 which flowers abundantly from June 

 till August. It seldom grows above 

 four feet high, but it forms a healthy- 

 looking bush, perfectly covered over 

 with flowers. The hybrids between 

 this species and the Nepaul tree Rho- 

 dodendron are very handsome. The 

 principal dwarf species are, R. chrys- 

 dnthum, with yellow flowers, R. 

 ferrugineum, and R. hirsutum, 

 with rose-coloured flowers, and R. 

 caucdsicum, with purple or white 

 flowers. All these scarcely exceed a 

 foot in height, and some of them are 

 not more than six inches. R. dauri- 

 cum flowers from December till 

 March, and the flowers of the species 

 appear before the leaves, though there 

 is a variety that is evergreen. It is 

 very ornamental, and it is valuable 

 from the early season at which it 

 flowers. All the Rhododendrons are 

 what is called hair-rooted plants ; and 

 they are all grown in sandy peat, or 

 in deep sandy loam. They may also 

 be grown even in stiff clay, if it be 

 kept moist; but the worst soil for 

 Rhododendrons is that of a well-ma- 

 nured garden, particularly if the si- 

 tuation be a dry one ; as this kind of 

 soil has not tenacity enough to enable 

 it to adhere to the fine hair-like roots 

 of these plants. All the Rhododen- 

 drons may be propagated by cuttings 

 of the young shoots, taken off while 

 they are in agrowing state — by layers, 

 and by seeds. The latter is the most 



