i^fjotiobenbron ^ociet^ i^otesi. 
Here we have a number of them (stems six or more inches). Cunningham and 
Fraser had quite a field of them until recently. In our neighbourhood is a relic^ 
still hale and hearty, of the past, in Mr. Grieve, nearly nonagenarian, a great 
Rhododendron hybridist, and I sent Mr. Harrow with your truss to him for a 
name. Sherwoodi^, he said at once (catawbiense X arboreum). I have 
no record of the name, and shall have search made for it. (See note below.) The 
merit of this hybrid is early flowering as Mr. P. D. Williams says. 
Altaclarense is a well-known hybrid (catawbiense X ponticum x 
ARBOREUM RED). You will find a full history of this in the Botanical Register 
XVII (1835), t. 1414. It was raised by Gowen, at Highclerc, in 1826. It has no 
right to have the name Nobleanum attached to it. It is too weU known under 
its own name to be renamed Jacksoni “ crimson-scarlet,” by Smith, of 
Darley Dale. 
I hope the Rh. Jacksoni will thrive. 
ISAAC BAYLEY BALFOUR. 
In a subsequent letter to Mr. Ele 3 q dated 21st January, 1917, Professor Bayley 
Balfour writes :— 
“ I see that the correct name is Rh. Sherwoodianum—not Sherwoodioe—my 
miswriting. Lawson’s Catalogue, 1858, has ‘ Rh. Sherwoodianum, lilac-rose 
spotted,’ which is not very descriptive of Mr. P. D. Williams’ specimen, but 
who shall dispute about this ? ” 
Letter from Mr. P. D. Williams to Mr. C. C. Eley, 
dated Is^ February, 1917. 
Lanarth, St. Keverne, R.S.O., Cornwall. 
Dear Eley,— I returned your caucasicum papers hurriedly wdthout a 
covering letter. They are most interesting. Whether m}' plant is venustum 
or not seems open to argument, but I do think that it is not a catawbiense but 
is a caucasicum hybrid, the seed pods point to it. Mr. Peter Veitch talks of 
Rh. venustum in his books previous to 1863, as “ variety of Nobleanum spotted,” 
also ‘‘ shaded deep pink or rose, compact truss, neat and good.” This I think 
my pl^nt answers to, and it is very probable that it came from Veitch, of Exeter. 
We have no really old men in Cornwall now who are well up in such things, but I 
am confident that my father and Mr. Daubuz (who were always very reliable 
about plant names), invariably called this plant Nobleanum venustum. 
Can you put a query in the notes asking if anyone has an\' knowledge or even 
recollection of such a plant ? I would also ask for information on " Rh. 
cinnamoneum var. Cunninghami ” (cinnamoneum x maximum), raised by 
Mr. G. Cunningham, of the Nursery, Liverpool. Wonderful truss, pure white, 
purple spots, leaves covered with abundant resinous secretion rendering them 
sticky to the touch. 
12 
P. D. WILLIAMS. 
