THE CARNIVAL 57 
animating the earth, the rhododendrons open their 
regal buds. No one would think of calling the rho- 
dodendron a "calico-bush"! It belongs by every 
line of its stately foliage and more stately blossoms 
to the aristocracy of plant life. Its thick, glossy, 
evergreen leaves, much larger than those of the laurel 
and darker in color, its tall growth and crooked stems 
make it a noticeable and very decorative presence 
even when not in bloom. At the elevation of Traum- 
fest the greater rhododendrons do not grow, only 
those smaller, early blossoming ones whose more deli- 
cate forms and exquisite pale-pink or white blos- 
soms grace many a ravine and roadside bank. But 
on the higher mountains the slopes and ravines are 
often impassable because of the dense growths of 
rhododendrons, the king of which is the Rhodo- 
dendron maximum, that sometimes becomes a tree 
forty feet high, though more often it is a large 
shrub. 
Smaller than this, seldom reaching a height of 
twenty feet, and very abundant on many of the 
mountains, is the Rhododendron Catawbiense, or 
mountain rose-bay, blooming earlier than the other, 
its large clusters of lilac or purple or sometimes rose- 
red flowers making one of the most showy spectacles 
of the carnival season, particularly as it chooses open 
places and the summits of the mountains to display 
its colors. How many mountain scenes one recalls 
made glorious by this splendid shrub, and perhaps 
nowhere does it give more pleasure to the eye than 
where it stands in groups on the long and beautiful 
