HiUJDODENDKON VxVSKYf. 
Tlie foUowifig description of this new 
and beautiful shrub was furnislied by 
C apt. John Doimell Smith, of Baltimore : 
Rhododendron (Azalea) Vaseyi, Gray, 
Pkoc. Amer. Acad. vol. xv, p. 48: Bo- 
tanical Gaz. vol. viH, p. 283. 
Shrub, 8ft. -15 ft. high ; branches gla- 
brous ; bud-scales imbricated ; leaves 
membranaceous, sparingly pubescent- 
hairy or smooth, from obovate-oblong to 
oblong-lanceolate, .acute or acuminat* at 
both ends, :? in.-C in. long ; pedicels slen- 
der, glandular, recurved after flowering ; 
calyx very short, trimcate ; corolla rose- 
ate, glabrous within and without, rotate, 
canipanulate, irregularly and bilabiately 
5-parted or nearly so, with the lateral 
tiinuses deeper, and those of the obovate 
divisions more connected than the other 
two, upper li)l)eK more or less spotted in- 
side towards b:tse ; stamens 7, occasional- 
ly only 3, tliree-fourths of tliem larger 
and with Ktmiter filaments ; style with 
the stamens a little exceeding tlie corolla; 
o\ ary beset with stipitato viscid glands. 
Blos.s<H«ing precocious ratlier than coet- 
aneous with tlie leafing. 
Collected firet by Mr. George Vasey, 
June, 18TS, seven miles south-west from 
Webster, JacUson county, N. C. ; subse- 
quently by Mr. S. T. Kelsey and Capt. 
John Uonuoll Smith almig spring drains 
and ravines, Cliimney Tap Gaj), Ijetween 
Casliiers and Fairfield Valleys, Jackson 
Co., N, C. 
This is a most interesting species, re- 
niarl.-s Dr. (Jray, ius adding to our Flora a 
rvpieseiitative of tliat group of East Asia- 
atie speciiw of the true,'U;((/ef/ .'iuli-gei'.ns, 
witli <'atnpannlate or r<jtate-camp;»nu1ate 
corolla'*, iind very deciduous perulue to 
the separate ftower-buds. It roiitributes 
!ti;()(lu-i' to t1)e now very nniiierous casi-s 
of re;iiiu!viil)le relationship between tlie 
Chino-.Iapmicse and the Allcglianian 
iiortui. 
A scientific geii!lenm:i writes from 
T!.i.i;l)l!'n(ls for llii- Fbiliiilehihia Vi-nl:; of 
Oct, 7, \mr> : "1 recenlly ni.Je thio-i; h 
the nKKiii'uiins of Vresteni North Caroli- 
Jf.i. * * So r.»:in.v of the liiii-ot trees 
and shnibs in cultivation attain their best 
development in tliLs 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 spe- 
cies of rhododendron nowhere are found 
in such profusion and luxuriance. * * 
"But beyond question, the most beau- 
tiful of all flowering shrubs are the aza- 
leas, and four of the five species found 
on this continent are hero massed togeth- 
er in the greatest profusion and luxuri- 
ance. Tlie flame-colored azalea — A, cal- 
fiidulaeea — is the most showy. Here it 
often attains a height of twelve feet and 
covers hundreds of acres. It is the blood 
of this species which gives vigor and col- 
or to the hybrid Ghent azaleas. Azalea 
arbor esceiin, which ha.s but recently been 
intioduced into cultivation, is a wliite 
flowered and late blooming species, which 
here lines all the water courses — a stately 
shnib fifteen or twenty feet high. A. vin- 
coxa and ^1. nudiflora, the white and 
pink .species not uncommon in Northern 
woods and swamps, here mingle with tlio 
other species in an abiuidance and vigor 
unlcnown in other jiarCs of the country. 
* * "The latest addition to American 
flowering slirnlw URhododenilrnH Vaseyi 
which reniidned undetected until four or 
live years ago, wlien Mr. Va-sey found it 
in Jackson countj', near Webster, N. C. 
It was also discoverod about the same 
time in Cashiers Valley. The discorery 
was particularly interesting, ai it belongs 
to 11 sectiontof llie genus almo.st exclusive- 
ly Asiatic, entirely unrepresented in our 
Afl.'intic flora, and witli its nearest Amer- 
ican relative confined to tl>c Iiigtiast iiealw 
of the Cascade atid Northern Kocky 
Mi)!uitains, It is a tall shrub — twelve t^) 
fifteen feet high — with briglit, puii'.lc- 
piiik, scentless flowers', and unlike our 
ot ter rhododendrons, with deciduous 
leaves. It is ea-^ily tran.splaiited, adai)lH 
itself ivadily to cultivation, and promises 
to become an important addition to our 
;;i\r(!rii lUira." 
