SEPTEMBER. 
257 
CHINESE AZALEAS PERFECTION AND 
DISTINCTION. 
(Plate 143). 
Owing to tlie skill and perseverance of modem horticulturists, 
the Chinese Azalea has, within the last few years, become one 
of the most, if not the most popular plant of the day. The 
visitor to recent exhibitions who may not have watched the 
gradual improvement in this class—effected entirely through 
hybridisation—will have some difficulty in reconciling the 
fact to his mind, that such perfection of form and gorgeous- 
ness of colour have been obtained within the last twenty 
years, through the science of floriculture, from such parents 
as the dingy-coloured and badly-formed A. indica and phce- 
nicea, from which, and one or two others, all our modern 
varieties have been raised. The demand for any plant pretty 
nearly indicates its value to the gardening community; and, 
judged by this standard, the intrinsic value of the Azalea 
ranks very high, not only as an exhibition plant, hut as one 
which, by adapting itself to various forms of treatment—- 
forcing and retardation—may he had in bloom for a long 
period ; and hence, as a decorative plant in the hands of the 
gardener, it has no equal. Some excellent articles on the 
cultivation of the Azalea are to be found in our pages accom¬ 
panying the plates of varieties figured by us in previous 
volumes; these preclude our adding more on that point. 
Of the two new kinds figured on the opposite page. Perfection 
is a seedling raised by Mr. Frost, of Dropmore, who is also 
the raiser of several other distinct varieties, as Beauty of 
Dropmore, Frosti, Grenvilli, &c. &c. Our present subject 
bloomed for the first time in 1857, and was exhibited this 
present spring, at the meeting of the Horticultural Society at 
St. James’s Hall, when a first class certificate was awarded it. 
Distinction is also a seedling, and has been raised by the well 
known firm of Messrs. Ivery & Son, of the Dorking and 
Reigate nurseries—famous for Azaleas, as all the gardening 
world is aware. Respecting the origin of this variety, the 
Messrs. Ivery have sent us the following particulars :—“ This 
fine showy variety (Distinction) was raised from A, Bar- 
clayana, fertilised with A. Criterion ; it partakes of the former 
in habit, being a vigorous grower, hut is much more healthy 
in foliage than its parent (which is liable to turn whitish if 
exposed to cold winds). The flower is a rich salmon, very 
Striking, distinctly margined with white, and occasionally 
von xi., mo. cxxix. s 
