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ANDROMEDA FLORIBUNDA. 
ANDROMEDA FLORIBUNDA. 
The Andromeda floribunda is one of the most ornamental of 
our hardy shrubs. It is evergreen, maintaining the rich glossy 
colour of its profuse small permanent shining leaves, quite unin¬ 
jured by the most intense frost of the severest winters. In habit 
it is a compact round dwarf bush in appearance, not likely, under 
any circumstances, to attain more than four or five feet in height. 
The flowers are produced on the extremities of the shoots of the 
preceding year, and the dense clusters of little angular buds are 
formed early in the summer, and by the month of August appear 
ready to burst open, and mantle the whole plant with a sheet of 
snowy white blossoms. The expansion of the flower does not, 
however, take place before April or May. 
The native country of the Andromeda is North America, and 
it was probably first brought to this country in 1807 by Mr. 
Lyon, who was sent out as a plant collector from the Marquis of 
Bute, for, amongst the plants which he discovered and brought 
over was the Andromeda floribunda. One of these plants (if 
more than one were then introduced,) was planted in the plea¬ 
sure grounds of the Earl of Essex, at Cashiobury Park, and when 
Mr. Anderson, who was many years gardener to the late Earl of 
Essex, took the charge of the gardens, the Andromeda had be¬ 
come of considerable size. Plants of the same species were 
subsequently introduced from North America, which came into 
the possession of the late Mr. Jenkins, who then occupied as 
nursery ground the inner circle of the Regent’s Park, which is 
now the garden of the Royal Botanical Society of London. At 
the time the Society took possession of the ground, they pur¬ 
chased a large portion of the nursery stock, which included several 
hundred plants of the Andromeda, many of which are still in the 
possession of the Society. 
As the Andromeda has been grown in this garden for many 
years, and with greater success than is observed to be the case 
elsewhere, and also because in many instances in other gardens 
has been entirely lost, and lastly on account of the very general 
impression that the species is difficult to keep alive and in vigorous 
health, the insertion of these remarks may not be devoid of in¬ 
terest. The situation in which it is here grown is on a gentle 
