RHODODENDRON VASEYI. 
The following description of this new 
and beautiful shrub was furnished by 
Capt. John Donnell Smith, of Baltimore : 
R..O'lndi'.,i(lron (Azalea) Vveyi, Gray, 
Proc. Amer. Acad. vol. xv., p. 48 : Bo- 
tanical Gaz. vol VIII., p. 2S2. 
Shrub, Sft.-i^ft. high; branches glabrous; 
bud-scalcs imbricated ; leaves membranace- 
ous, sparingly pubescent — h;iiry or smooth, 
from obovate-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 
acute or acuminate at both ends, 3 in. -6 in. 
long; pedicels slender, ttlandular, lecurved 
after flowering ; calyx very short, tiuncate; 
corolla roseate, glabrous within and with- 
out, rotate, campanulate, irregulaily and 
bilabiatr.ly 5-parted or nearly so, with the 
lateral linuses deeper, and thoso of the 
obovate divisions more connected than the 
other two. upper lobes more or less spotted 
inside toward base; s'amens 7, occasional- 
ly only 5, thrccfourths of them larger and 
with stouter filaments; style with I he sta- 
mens a little exceeding tlie corolla ; ovary 
b.sct with stip.tate viscid glan Is. lilos 
soming precocious rather than c. etaneous 
with the leafing. 
Collected first by Mr. Geo. Vasey, Ju..e 
l.S7t>, seven milcs.south west from Webster, 
Jackson countv, N. ('.; subscq-.ienlly by 
Mr. T. S. K' Iscy and Capt. J.ilm Donnell 
S ..ith, along spring drains and ravines. 
Chimney Top Gap, betwc n Casliiers and 
Fairfield Valleys, Jackson county, N. C 
This is a moat interestin;^ species, re 
ma:ks Dr. Gr ij . as adding 10 our Kljra a 
representative of that group of East Asi 
atic specie- of the true Az uph ^ub•genus. 
with campanulate or rot.ite campatiulate 
coro las, and very decideous p("alijexo the 
separate flower beds. It contributes anoth- 
er 10 the now very numerous casts of re 
markab'C rclali jnship between the Chino- 
Japanrse and the Alleghanian floras. 
A scientific gentleman -i rites from ifigh 
1 mds for the Philadelphia Prefn pf October 
7th, i8S^ ; "I recently rode through the 
mountains of Western North Carolina. » • 
So many of the finest trees and shrubs in 
cultivation atlasin their best development 
in this region, that it may be worth while 
to note the appearance of some of them at 
home. Except, perhaps, on the high slopes 
of the Himalayas, or the mountains of 
Java, the various species of the thodi,dcn. 
dron nowhere arc found in su h profusion 
and luxuriance. * * 
"But beyond question, the most beau- 
tiful of all flowering shrubs ere the aza- 
leas, anil four of the five species foiuKi 
on this continent are liore massed togetii- 
er in the greatest profu.sion anil luxuri- 
ance. The flame-coloroil azaleas — A. 
CAi.KKDL'LACEA — is the most .showy. 
Ilcro it often attains a height of twelve 
feet anil covers hundreds of acres. It is 
the blood of this species which gives vig- 
or and color to the hybrid Ghent azaleas. 
Azalea AiiiioitESCENS, which has recently 
been introduced into cultivation, is a 
white flowered and late blooming species 
vvliich here lines all the watercourses — 
a stately shrub lifteen or twenty feet 
high. A. viscosA and A. nudifluua, 
the white and pink species not uncom- 
mon in Morthcrn woods and swamps, 
here mingle with the other species in an 
abundanci! and vigor unknown in other 
parts of the country. 
* * "The latest addition to .Vinerican 
flowering shrubs is Khododendkon \'a- 
sEYi, wliich remained undetected miiil 
four or five years ago, when Mr. \"asey 
found it ill Jackson county, near Web- 
ster. N. C. It was also discovered about 
the same time in Cashiers Valley. The 
discovery was particularly interesting, 
as it belongs to a section of the genus al- 
most exclu.sively Asiatic, cntirel_y unrep- 
resented in our Atlantic flora, and with 
its nearest American relative confined to 
the highest peaks of the Cascade and 
Northern Ilocky Mountains. It is a tall 
shrub — twelve to fifteen feet high — with 
bright, purple, pink, scentless flowers, 
and unlike our other rhododendrons, with 
deeidious leaves. It is easily transplan- 
ted, adapts itself readily to cultivation, 
and promises to become an imi)ortant 
addition to our garden flora." 
