172 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, June 10, 1857. 
among plants still more nearly allied to Rhododendron, 
as in Anthoptenis racemosus and a species of Sphyrospermim , 
; both which grow upon trees in the Peruvian Andes. 
The four species now described belong to a supposed 
genus called Vireya by Blume, and distinguished from 
Rhododendron by the seeds being extended at each end into 
a slender tail-like process. But this circumstance, the only | 
one that is at all peculiar to the Malay Rhododendrons, 
disappears in Vireya retusa , whose seeds are shown by 
Dr. Horsfield’s figure of that plant to be in no respect 
different from those of Rhododendron arboreum , In the 
latter species the seeds are furnished with short, thick 
hairs at each end ; in Rhododendron campanulalum they are 
reduced to mere tubercles ; in Azalea Indica they wholly dis¬ 
appear ; wdiile in Azalea Pontica they occur in the form of 
thick processes connected with a broad wing which surrounds 
the seed either wholly or in part. Hence we are led to 
infer that such circumstances are of no generic value, and 
therefore botanists have universally rejected the genus 
Vireya. 
1. Rhododendron Brookeanum. Low. 
Sp. Char. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, perfectly smooth, 
nearly sessile, without any trace of dotting or marking 
on the under side. Peduncles smooth. Flowers in loose 
umbels. Calyx obsolete. Corolla between funnel-shaped 
and campanulate, five-lobed; the lobes refuse, revolute, 
nearly as long as the tube. Stamens ten, prominent, with 
linear converging anthers. 
This noble plant not only grows on trees, but, according ( 
to one of Mr. Low’s memoranda, is occasionally met with 
“ on moss-covered limestone rocks, flowering from November 
to July.” 
Another note upon it is the following:— 
“ I shall never forget the first discovery of this gorgeous 
plant. It was epiphytal upon a tree which was growing in 
the water of a creek. The head of flowers was very large, 
arranged loosely, of the richest golden yellow, resplendent 
when in the sun. The habit was graceful, the leaves 
large. The calyx of this and the other Borneo species 
is so small as to be scarcely perceptible. 
The roots are large and fleshy, not fibrous ; 
as those of the terrestrial Rhododendrons. 
It is the least common of all the genus 
in the island, and has many varieties, which 
differ in having larger flowers and leaves, 
the former of a more or less red colour. 
Very high and large trees in damp forests 
are its favourite haunts.” 
In his Sarawak we find it mentioned in 
the following paragraph 
“ The still river, winding its way amidst 
the limestone, which is shaded with over¬ 
hanging trees, is nevertheless very pretty; 
and the hill opposite to which we now lie 
rises in a precipice two hundred feet above 
our heads, its face being covered with climb- ; 
ing plants, and the projections of the rocks 
covered with Ferns and other plants, among 
which I observed the bright flowers of the 
beautiful and new yellow Rhododendron , 
Brookeanum , and the elegant fern-like foliage 
of a large-leafed, stemless Palm.”—p. 374. 
This species is allied to Rhododendron 
Javanicum, from which it differs in having | 
much larger flowers, and nearly sessile, not ; 
long-stalked, leaves, the under side of which 
is entirely destitute of the rusty specks which 1 
characterise the Java plant. Coloured draw¬ 
ings of two varieties are before me,—one i 
yellow, the other rich red. 
The Yellow is represented with fourteen 
flowers in a loose cluster, of a rich buff i 
colour, and two inches across the limb. 
The colour, however, is stated by Mr. Low 
to be incorrect, and it is probablv much too 
dull. 
The Red has larger leaves, and only five 
flowers in a cluster, in colour resembling 
the Azalea Indica laterUia, but richer. They 
are more than three inches across the limb. 
2. Rhododendron gracile. Low. 
Sp. Char. Leaves lanceolate, very long, 
drooping, tapering sharply to each end, 
quite smooth, but indistinctly marked on 
the Tinder side with dark freckles. Pe¬ 
duncles smooth, much shorter than the 
flowers. Calyx obsolete. Corolla funnel- 
shaped, with a tube much longer than the 
irregular limb, whose lobes are flat, very 
blunt, and imbricated. Stamens exserted ; 
anthers erect. 
“ This slender and beautiful Rhododen¬ 
dron,” says Mr. Low,“is found on rocks at 
the ‘ Sirul ’ mouth of the Sarawak River. It 
is confined to a space of ground not extend¬ 
ing over two hundred yards square, and was 
never seen in any other place. It grows 
