Efje l^fjobobenbron ^ocietp ilotesi. 
our great English botanist now regards as the central birthplace of the genus, 
the Malayan Archipelago. This splendid species, with its large truss of bright 
orange flowers, is not often seen. Last year it bloomed finely at Kew, and I have 
seen at Messrs. Veitch’s multitudes of young plants. In vain I have tried to 
cross it with the hardy varieties, though it has been mated with nearer relations, 
as will appear presently ; but last year, I am told, it refused to cross either way 
with R. jASMiNiFLORUM. R. Edgeworthii, the pollen-parent of R. “ Princess 
Alice,” and R. Dalhousi.®, the pollen-parent of R. “ Countess of 
Haddington,” bloomed with Miss Walker, in May ; and their large white 
scented blossoms must have been noble company for the crimson and the purple 
of " Brayanum ” and ‘‘ Sir Isaac Newton ” and others in the list, R. Jenkinsii 
opened in June and lasted till the end of July. The dwarf and curious 
R. anthopogon bloomed through August ; and R. Maddenii, which very 
nearly resembles Jenkinsii, kept up the succession tiU October 18th. 
Such is the abbreviated record of a year of Rhododendrons. Some may 
perhaps think this a narrow and monotonous view of floral culture ; and yet, 
with the largest love for many plants, it may be well, even for an amateur, to 
devote primary attention to one or two, as Mr. Radclyffe to his roses, his straw¬ 
berries, and his peaches, or Mr. Wilson to his lilies. 
Having a few groups of plants under constant and minute attention, it is 
wonderful how familiar one grows with habits and peculiarities. With some 
botanical knowledge (and all horticulturists should, if possible, be botanists,) 
amateurs may, by careful and recorded observation, offer much assistance to 
science. 
The days have gone by when, as Dean Herbert relates, naturalists frowned 
on hybridisers. Both have found that the more they learn of Nature, the more, 
it seems, remains to be learnt ; and Rhododendrons offer to both a large field 
for observation and experiment. 
New species come pouring in apace from all climates and from many parts. 
Your pages recorded, the other day, a whole new series of Rhododendrons from 
the Malayan Archipelago and New Guinea ; while, to go to the other extreme, 
Regel’s Gartenflora, Vol. XXVI., figures and describes an alpine novelty 
from the Baikal Mountains, a species ” zwischen R. lapponicum und 
R. DAVURICUM.” [R. PARVIFOLIUM, Adunisl ] 
The variety and the range of the Rhododendrons are indeed wonderful. 
You may bring them from a tropical climate, or from the snow-line, where 
R. NIVALE patiently waits days and weeks, in storm and fog, for one sunny hour, 
in which its pollen may do its work. They bear flowers, some of them, as large 
as MAGNOLIA GRANDiFLORA, and Others more tiny than a buttercup ; some are 
trees, others like the humblest herb ; some are evergreen, others deciduous, and 
others again half-and-half. Their leaves are nearly as various as their names, 
and I have often amused my guests by a study of their foliage, from R. Falconeri 
down to R. LEPiDOTUM. And yet, not only does the botanist know their close 
alliance, but the hybridiser is constantly discovering strange likings and anti¬ 
pathies among them, which may some day lead to the disclosure of new truths. 
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