THE RUSTY-LEAVED RHODODENDRON. 
RHODODENDRUM FERRUGINEUM. 
Whose joy is in the wilderness, to breathe 
The difficult air of the iced mountain top.” 
There are several species of the Rhododendron, all 
hardy mountaineers. One, indeed, (the Rhododendron 
Caucasicum, whose very name almost makes us shiver,) 
is a native of Mount Caucasus, skirting the borders of 
perpetual ice in the highest range of shrubby vegetation. 
The one which I have chosen, inhabits the high moun¬ 
tains of Switzerland, Savoy, and Dauphine. “ It is an 
irregular evergreen shrub about eight inches in height; 
the lower branches, lying on the ground, put out fibres, 
and hence it may easily be increased without the principal 
root being disturbed, which, being fixed deep in the fis¬ 
sures of rocks, is not pulled up without much difficulty.” 
Its blossoms are of a beautiful pale rose colour, and 
hence its name of Rosa alpina. There is a variety with 
a white flower, but it is not common. 
