PLOt^A AND SYLVA 
THE CHINESE RHODODEN- 
DRONS, WITH A PLATE OF 
RHODODENDRON AUGUS- 
TINIL* 
The close of the nineteenth century 
and the dawn of the twentieth will be 
memorable in the annals of horticulture 
for the number of new plants intro- 
duced from China. From the time of 
Robert Fortune to the late "eighties" 
little was added to our gardens from 
Chinese sources. About twenty years 
ago, however, several French mission- 
aries in China — notably the Abbe Dela- 
vay — collected botanical material and 
sent home seeds of a good number of 
plants. Among these were several 
Rhododendrons — such as R. ?^acemo- 
sum^ R. lacteum^ and R. Delavayi. 
So far as horticulture (as distinct from 
botany) is concerned, we may look for- 
ward to the results of Mr. E . H. Wilson's 
recent journeys in China as likely to 
prove more important thanany save,per- 
haps,thoseof Fortune. And Fortune was 
favouredintwo respects. He was practi- 
cally first in the field, and he was able to 
introduce not only such wild plants as 
he came across but (what was of more 
immediate value to horticulture) the 
long-cultivated plants of the Chinese. 
As regards Rhododendrons, the only 
important one he introduced was R. 
Fortiinei. There is now at Coombe 
Wood a great variety of young Rhodo- 
dendrons, many of them very distinct 
in appearance, and likely to prove of 
great importance in the near future. In 
the following notes I have dealt only 
with such of the Chinese Rhododen- 
drons (as distinct from Azalea) as are 
or have been in cultivation. They form 
but a small proportion of the known 
species, and even of these several kinds 
have not yet flowered in this country, 
but it may be well to bring together 
such information as is available concern- 
ing them at the present date. 
On the whole the Chinese Rhodo- 
dendrons in many respects approach 
those of Northern India, in fact several 
i species in the one region have an almost 
exact counterpart in the other. On the 
other hand not a few are quite distinct 
from any previously in cultivation, as, 
forinstance,the charming i^.r/^f^;^^?^/^^/;^, 
which represents in our gardens a per- 
j fectly new type of Rhododendron. We 
I may reasonably hope, too, considering 
I the latitude and elevation at which many 
j of them grow, that they will prove more 
I generally hardy . than the Himalayan 
; species. 
■ Rhododendron aucubafolium. — Although this 
j is described by Dr. Henry, its discoverer, as 
very rare, Messrs. Veitch have secured it and 
it is growing in their Coombe Wood Nursery. 
; It is a shrub of bushy habit and of medium 
I size. The leaves are smooth, 6 to 8 inches long 
: by one-fourth as much in width ; they are 
' broadest towards the apex, tapering towards 
the base. The flowers are said by Dr. Henry 
to be snow-white ; they are borne on slender 
stalks and measure i| inches across. The 
species which is apparently a very distinct one, 
comes from the Hupeh province. Central 
China. 
R. Augustinii. — The charming character of 
j this Rhododendron is shown by the coloured 
I plate, which gives the white-flowered form 
' and one of the many coloured varieties. It is 
now cultivated in the Coombe Wood Nursery, 
and I saw some good plants — probably the 
finest in Europe — growing in M. de Vilmorin's 
* From a drawing kindly supplied bj' M. Maurice de Vilmorin. 
