A RHODODENDRON FOREST IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 



HE great laurel, Rhododendro7t 

 maximum, which occurs in 

 great abundance in the Alle- 

 ghany mountains from New 

 York to Georgia, is a rare plant 

 in the New England states. 

 The stations where it is found 

 are few in number, though in 



some the growth is very profuse. Much as I have 

 botanized in New England, I had never seen the 

 plant till, on July 29, 1890, in company with a 

 merry party from J affray, N. H., I visited the 

 famous forest of this most exquisite shrub, on the 

 farm of S. M. Follansbee, in the town of Fitzwil- 

 liam, N. H. We started on a bright afternoon and 

 drove through a most picturesque country, with the 

 grand peak of Mt. Monadnock towering above us. 



Fitzwilliam lies in the south-western part of New 

 Hampshire, in Cheshire county, 77 miles from Boston, 

 Mass., on the line of the Fitchburg and Cheshire rail- 

 road. The country round about is very rolling and 

 hilly, and this affords most beautiful scenery. Two 

 miles beyond the town, we drew up at Mr. Follansbee's 

 farm and were conducted by the owner through a rocky 

 pasture to a pretty grove of spruces and pines near by. 

 I never had heard any account of these rhododendrons, 

 and I expected to see but a few plants scattered here 

 and there, and so I was in nowise prepared for the glori- 

 ous spectacle that burst upon me as I passed through 

 the trees that shut the view from my sight. I suddenly 

 saw before me a literal forest of rhododendrons. To 

 me, a beholder for the hrst time, it was a never-to-be- 

 forgotten sight. I was confronted by a dense mass of 

 evergreen foliage, rising to the height of from 10 to 15 

 feet, and covering the ground all about us. We entered 

 a pathway cut through this forest and were lost amid 

 the luxuriant growth. Large clusters of rose-colored 

 and white flowers brightened up the dark hue of the 

 leaves, like brilliant gems in a dark setting. We visited 

 but a small part of the ground covered by these plants. 

 They extend over from 12 to 13 acres, not forming one 

 continual growth, but occurring in greater or less 

 density. Those which I visited were growing in a rich, 

 black, peaty loam, over which one could easily walk. 

 Others grow in more swampy ground, while some flour- 

 ish even on comparatively dry slopes. We were allowed 

 to pick the flowers freely, and we took home with us 

 large bunches. 



Can it be that the rhododendron once grew in inter- 

 mediate stations, connecting this station with its southern 

 habitat ? We have similar cases in New England of iso- 

 lated species persisting far away from their southern or 



western homes ; for example, the Magnolia glauca in 

 Magnolia, Mass. The RJiodudc-ndron inaxiiniun, which 

 is closely allied to the mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, 

 so abundant in eastern North America, is certamly a 

 queen among its relatives of the heath family in the 

 United States. The large, glossy dark green persistent 

 leaves are generally 6 to 8 inches in length, lance-oblong 

 in shape, acute at the end and narrowed at the base. 

 It has a somewhat bell-shaped corolla, very rosy in bud. 

 but whiter when in flower. The stamens, commonly 

 ten in number, and the style are rarely exserted, a char- 

 acter which distinguishes it from the azalea section o^ 

 the genus rhododendron. The flower clusters are in 

 sessile umbels, the viscid pedicels being little more than 

 an inch in length. 



I cull the following from information furnished me 

 by Mr. Follansbee, who sells young plants of this shrub 

 to fanciers. The rhododendron thrives best in masses, 

 rather than in single specimens, and prefers a sandy, 

 peaty soil, though any good, light, sandy loam answers 

 very well. A clayey loam or limestone soil should be 

 carefully avoided. The plants are easy to transplant, 

 the best times being from April to June and from 

 August to December. A cool and moist locality, with 

 deep soil, is preferable, and the plant should not be 



A Cluster of Rhododeni>uon Maximum. 



exposed to the severe winter winds, which shake the 

 foliage about, covered with ice and snow, often strip- 

 ping off the leaves, so essential in their perfection to 

 the beauty of the plant : hence, as mentioned above, it 



