3 6 ° 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



this name is condemned by botanists. 

 The rocky beds that immediately suc- 

 ceed the coal period in geology are full of 

 the remains of fossil Ginkgoes, amongst 

 which upwards of sixty kinds have been 

 distinguished, proving that in past ages 

 this family of trees held a large place in 

 the vegetation of the world. — B. 



References. — Loudon, Arboretum, p. 2094 ; Gordon, 

 Pinetum, p. 374; Veitch, Manual of Coniferae, p. 312; 

 Webster, Hardy Coniferous Trees, p. 50; Revue horticole, 

 1901, p. 206 ; Bailey, Encyclopaedia of American Horticul- 

 ture, vol. 2, p. 645. 



RHODODENDRON YUNNAN- 

 ENSE * 



The Rhododendrons found within re- 

 cent years in central China have not 

 only enriched our gardens with hardy 

 kinds of great beauty but have opened 

 new fields to the raisers of garden va- 

 rieties in a series of plants of a character 

 quite unlike many of those previously 

 known. From the work of Hooker in 

 northern India that region was long 

 considered as the chosen home of the 

 Rhododendron, but of late years this 

 estimate has been modified in view of the 

 discoveries of MM. David and Delavey 

 in Yunnan and Dr. Henry in south-west 

 China. Their gains have proved that the 

 area in Asia covered by the Rhododen- 

 dron is wider than at first supposed, 

 reaching eastward from the Himalayas, 

 through Thibet, into China and Man- 

 churia. The Chinese Rhododendrons 

 are remarkable for their variety of form, 

 and are so completely distinct from those 

 of the Himalayan region that only one 

 or two kinds, out of more than forty now 

 described, are common to both areas. 

 Though amongst these newspecies there 

 are many kinds which only interest the 



botanist, some are good plants, beautiful 

 in flower,hardier than most of the Indian 

 section, and certain when they become 

 more plentiful to prove of value in our 

 gardens and shrubberies. Rhododendron 

 yunnanense is oneof these beautiful hardy 

 shrubs which was found by Abbe Dela- 

 vayupon the mountains of Yunnan, and 

 raised from seeds gathered and sent to 

 Europe by him. The plant first flowered 

 at Kew in April 1897, and has improved 

 with every season, being especially fine 

 this spring when Mr. Moon secured his 

 picture. It is an erect shrub, loosely 

 branching into slender shoots with 

 scanty leaves of dark green, slightly hairy 

 upon the margin and upper side, and 

 covered beneath with dark glandular 

 dots upon a pale grey surface. Its beauti- 

 fully marked flowers are nearly 2 inches 

 across when expanded, and borne in 

 profusion as little clusters of four to six 

 blooms; coming somewhat late — from 

 the middle to the end of May — they 

 escape the spring frosts which so often 

 spoil earlier kinds. The spray seen in 

 our plate is that of a pale variety of yet 

 finer effect than the original plant, whose 

 lilac-coloured flowers are shown as a 

 small detached cluster. The plant is 

 hardy at Kew, flowers freely while quite 

 small though it promises to make a good- 

 sized shrub, and would appear to be of 

 easy increase from cuttings. It received 

 an award of merit in May of last year 

 when flowers were shown before the 

 Royal Horticultural Society by Mr. 

 Moore of Glasnevin, and its value has 

 been so proved as to assure its place 

 among hardy Rhododendrons. 



* With coloured plate from a drawing by H. G. Moon. 



