176 AZALEA INDICA ; var. VARIEGATA. 
with the common white variety. Such, at least, would most likely be the result of [ 
an experiment of that kind ; though we cannot doubt that it has repeatedly been j 
tried, seeing the general propensity to attempt blending flowers whose colours are j 
in the highest degree diverse. The history of our plant is, however, readily traced I 
to China, from whence it has been more than once imported ; and without we set 
it down as a casual hybridization there by insects, it must be established as a 
natural variety. Whichever of these hypotheses may be correct, the plant has 
indisputably few rivals in beauty. In a letter with which we are favoured from 
Mr. G. Plumbly, gardener to C. J. Dimsdale, Esq., Hatfield, Herts, accompanying 
some specimes of the blossoms, it is stated that the plant in the collection of that 
gentleman, although comparatively small, expanded at one time nearly seventy j 
flowers in the beginning of the present year ; and when this fact is viewed in 
connexion with the annexed plate, the superlative splendour of the specimen may 
be at once imagined. 
In the same communication we have some excellent practical remarks as to the 
impropriety of exposing Azaleas of this class in the autumn months. They are 
extremely liable, says the writer, to be injured by rains, since they cannot bear 
much water at that season, and it always prevents them from flowering as they 
would otherwise do in the following spring. It is therefore recommended to keep 
them constantly under protection, which becomes further necessary when the more 
tender varieties, such as that now beneath our notice, grow upon their own roots, 
and are not grafted on a stronger sort. An excessive glare of light is at all times 
prejudicial, and those specimens bloom best which are grown in a house that has 
not a direct south aspect, or is shaded a little from the very hot rays of the sun. 
We are informed that cuttings of this variety strike freely if planted in pots 
under a hand-glass in the autumn, retaining them in this condition till the next 
spring, when they are potted off singly. Potting the young stock in the autumn 
is to be deprecated, since they are frequently destroyed by dampness during 
winter, not being sufficiently settled to fill the pot with roots. Inarching or 
grafting on stocks of A, i. pkoenicea is, however, the best method of increase, 
for this plant evidently requires stouter roots than it naturally possesses. 
Mr. Knight, of the King s Road, Chelsea, appears to have distributed the 
majority of the specimens at present in cultivation, and the variety has flowered 
several times in that nursery. We have subsequently observed it at Messrs. 
Young's, Epsom ; while the plant which supplied us with the materials for our 
figure bloomed beautifully at Messrs. Henderson's, Pine-apple Place, in the months 
of April and May last. 
