THE RUSTY-LEAVED RHODODENDRON. 
117 
THE RUSTY-LEAVED RHODODENDRON. 
EHODODENDRUM FEERUGINEUM. 
“ Whose joy is in the wilderness, to breathe 
The difficult ah - of the iced mountain top.” 
There arc 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. e< 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. 
