156 
THE AZALEA. 
In the year 1834, soon after the commencement of the Magazine of Botany, 
we gave some general rules for the treatment of established Azaleas and the 
propagation of young plants : our readers who possess this work entire, are referred 
to Yol. I. page 126, " Azalea pulchra." We now propose to furnish an historical 
sketch of this beautiful genus, or rather of those tender species which, when well 
grown, constitute the greatest ornaments of our conservatories and greenhouses ; 
and in so doing, we shall introduce new and practical observations on their mode 
of propagation and of culture which time and experience have proved to be effectual. 
An able article, written, we believe, by one of the highest botanical authorities 
of the day, (whose name it is not our province here to reveal,) is to be seen in the 
Penny Cyclopaedia, Vol. III. pp. 199, 200. We shall now extract a few 
abbreviated passages from it. 
" Azalea belongs to the natural order Ericem (or the heath-tribe — now Ericacew). 
By some botanists the genus is esteemed the same as Rhododendron, and it must be 
confessed that it is difficult to point out any positive character, except the thin and 
generally deciduous leaves, by which Azalea can be distinguished from Rhododen- 
dron. It will, however, be more conformable to popular usage to view them apart." 
In this we coincide. We will go further : for, if the texture of the foliage be 
admitted as evidence, and prove a line of demarcation, then, Azalea is not 
Rhododendron ; and, in a natural system of botany, we are quite unwilling to con- 
sider the flower only as the essential index. But should the flower and fruit be 
insisted on as such, we still maintain that the structure and number of the stamens, 
the figure of the corolla, and the texture of its petals, differ materially in the two 
genera. 
Take even the generic characters of the two, thus :— 
" Azalea. — Calyx in five divisions. Corolla cut into five segments, campanu- 
late (bell-shaped), or somewhat funnel-shaped. Stigma obtuse. Capsule 5- 
celled." Stamens 5, 7? or 8, rarely 10. 
" Rhododendron. — Calyx 5-parted. Corolla somewhat funnel-shaped. Stamens 
declinate, almost universally ten ; whereas those of Azalea are frequently five, 
insomuch that the former is referred to Decandria, and the latter to Pentandria." 
Capsule 5-celled. 
If, notwithstanding these discrepancies, we must yield to fashion, and pronounce 
the two genera one, the identity of Fuchsia fulgens with its present congeners 
can be no longer tenable ; for, to say nothing of the difference of habit manifest in 
root, branches, leaves, and flowers, we have seen instances wherein the calyx of 
fulgens has been cut into five distinct and perfect segments. 
But to return to the article on Azalea above referred to, which assigns the year 
