HARDY RHODODENDRONS AND AZALEAS. 



135 



well known and much appreciated, and which occupies a middle 

 position, in point of time, between the early-blooming Himalayans 

 .and the later poiiticam. 



To prolong my blooming season I turn to the many beautiful 

 and interesting species which come to us from the Himalayas. 

 Some have thought that because they come from India they 

 cannot be hardy ; but if you reflect for a moment what a vast 

 •district is represented by the Himalayas — Nepal (west), Sikkim, 

 Bhotan ( east) — rising in elevation from the hot plains to the ever- 

 lasting snows, you may appreciate to some extent the conditions 

 under which, in suitable districts of our British Islands, these 

 Himalayan species find a congenial home. 



Judging by the description and habitat given by Sir Joseph 

 Hooker in his " Flora of British India," I would draw a line at 

 an elevation of 9,000 feet in their native country, and say 

 generally that those which in the Himalayas flourish above 

 that line are hardy here, and those below it are not. 



My experience gained in South Wales may not coincide with 

 that obtained in Ireland, Scotland, or other parts of England, 

 -and comparisons may be very interesting if they can be elicited. 

 I think, however, that the above limit will prove approxi- 

 mately correct. 



Sir Joseph Hooker, in his " Flora of British India," thus 

 describes the genus Bhododendron, vol. hi. p. 4G2 : " Trees or 

 shrubs, sometimes very small, often scaly or aromatic. Leaves 

 -alternate, often clustered towards the ends of the branches, 

 rarely subopposite or falsely whorled, entire, coriaceous. 

 Flowers fascicled or subcorymbose, terminal, rarely solitary or 

 .axillary ; bracts broad, generally caducous ; bracteoles linear. 

 Calyx 5-lobed, sometimes small or obsolete, rarely saucer- 

 shaped, persistent. Corolla campanulate, widely funnel-shaped 

 or cylindric, tube long or short, lobes 5-10. Stamens 5-18, 

 usually 10 ; anthers oblong,- dehiscing by terminal pores. 

 Ovary 5-20-celled, style long or short, stigma capitate, ovules 

 very many in each cell. Capsule short woody or elongate 

 ■thinner, 4-20-celled— septicidally 4-20-valved from the apex, 

 valves breaking away from the placenta. Seeds very many, 

 ellipsoid, albuminous ; testa close or loose, often shortly 

 crested or tailed at one or both ends. Species 130, in the moun- 

 tains of Europe, Asia, Malaya, and North America." 



