24 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
fjAKUARY, 
Fig. 1. — AZALEA VISC03A. 
Pig. 2. — EXCRESCENCES ON AZALEA. 
Our Native Azaleas. 
Many years ago vre saw upon the catalogue 
of a dealer in medicinal herbs the question, 
more pertinent than elegant in its expression : 
"Why send to Europe's distant shores 
For plants that grow at our own doors ?" 
The same question might be aslied with ref- 
erence to ornamental as well as medicinal plants. 
That we do import largely each year of the 
ver}' plants that grow abundantly with us in 
the wild state, is a fact well known to any one 
who visits the nurseries. It is quite difficult to 
find anything like a general assortment of 
American shrubs in our nurseries, and the ma- 
jority of those they do have are from European 
nurseries. The reason for this is to be found in 
the fact that there is not a sufficient demand for 
these things to induce our nurserymen to raise 
their own stock of them, and it is cheaper to 
import the few that may be called for than to be 
at the trouble of propagating them. Though 
man}- of these shrubs may be procured from 
their wild localities, they, as a general thing, are 
inferior to nursery raised seedlings, which, hav- 
ing been several times transplanted, are fur- 
nished with much better roots. We have en- 
deavored to increase the taste for native plants 
by making them better known, and giving such 
engravings as will enable them to be recognized. 
While we gladly welcome the horticultural pro- 
ductions of every country, we would not have 
those of our own overlooked, especially when, 
as is ofte'n the case, the native plants are equal 
in merit to those brought from afar. 
What can be more beautiful than our native 
Azaleas? The Europeans have long prized 
them, and by seedlings and crossings have sent 
us back a long catalogue of named varieties, 
which are among the choicest flowering shrubs. 
Of the Azaleas, often improperly called Honey- 
suckles, we have four native species in the 
Northern and Middle States. In two of them 
the flowers appear before the leaves and cover 
the bushes with a robe of beauty : Azalea midiflo- 
ra, the Pinxter-flower, has flowers varying from 
flesh color to pm'ple, and is found from New 
England to Virginia, while A. calendulawa, the 
Flame-colored Azalea, has orange-colored blos- 
soms which change to flame color, and is found 
in the mountains of Pennsylvania and south- 
ward. In the other two species the flowers ap- 
pear after the leaves develop : A. arborescens, 
the Smooth Azalea, is found in the mountains 
of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and has fragrant 
rose-colored flowers. A. Tiscom, the Clammy 
Azalea — more commonly known as Swamp 
Pink, and White Swamp-Honeysuckle — grows 
from Maine southward, but is more abundant 
near the coast. The last named is the one we 
have figured, as it is the commonest, and if not 
the showiest, its generally pure white flowers, 
delicious fragrance, and rich green foliage, ren- 
der it one of the most desirable. It grows in 
the borders of damp woods and in swamps, and 
frequently reaches the hight of eight or ten feet. 
The leaves are dark and shining, with brown 
bristly hairs on their margins. The engraving 
shows the flowers of their natural size, thougli 
the clusters are often larger than the one here 
presented ; they appear in June and July, are 
usually of the purest white, though sometimes 
tinged with pink. The exterior of the flowers 
is tliickly covered with small glandular hairs, 
which secrete a viscid substance; hence the 
specific name mcosa. This species (as do the 
others,) shows a great tendency to sport in its 
wild state, as well as in cultivation, and the na- 
tive specimens vary much in the color of foliage, 
and in size and color of the flowers. Some of 
the flowers are of the most perfect dead white, 
others have a scarlet tint with a white border, 
while in others the border is more or less flesh- 
colored or tinged with rose. By hybridizing 
this species with the European A. pontica, great 
numbers of varieties have been obtained, and 
are known in the gardens as Belgian Azaleas, 
etc. Plants if removed from their native habi- 
tats with care, will do well in cultivation, if 
not put in too dry a spot, or one too much ex- 
posed to the sun. They should have a soil 
containing plenty of leaf mold or muck. It 
often happens that the flowers of this species 
are transformed into fleshy, irregularly shaped 
bodies, sometimes as large as a pullet's egg. 
This substance is of a light green color, covered 
with a bloom, slightly acidulous, and relished 
by some who eat it, thinking it the fruit of the 
shrub, and call it " May Apple," and " Swamp 
Cheese." Tlie true fruit is a small dry capsule, 
while these things, if carefully examined, will 
often show more or less traces of the shape of 
the flower, and are evidently an abnormal 
growth. It is probable, though we believe not 
exactly made out, that this change is produced 
by the agency of insects. This growth is not 
produced upon the flower alone, but the leaves 
sometimes bear it. Last summer, Mr. A. W. 
Roberts brought us some very interesting spec- 
imens from a locality in which the bushes were 
loaded with them. The excrescences were 
generally of a very regular, bluntly conical 
shape when small, but the older ones became 
irregular, with, however, a graceful outline. 
Fin-ure 2, shows a branch with the leaves, hav- 
ing these bodies of the natural size, in different 
stages of development. Similar excrescences 
are%ometimes found on the Huckleberry. All 
these need a careful study by some competent 
observer, to determine their character. 
