l^tobobenbron ^ocictp J^oteS. 
Gardeners’ Chronicle, June 2\st, 1879, 
Javanese and 
Malayan 
Rhododendrons. 
The strain of Rhododendrons raised by the Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, has 
opened, so to say, a new vista to Rhododendron growers, at least to such of them 
as have a warm greenhouse. I have mentioned my astonishment and dehght 
at the vision of R. calophyllum in the Temperate-house at Kew ; but I was 
scarcely less impressed on being first introduced to the house at Messrs. Veitch’s, 
where, with due precautions, their seedlings were guarded from the vulgar eye 
and the risk of mischance. Mr. Taylor, to whom their existence and their 
rearing are principally due, was (and I may say is) not a httle proud of 
his productions, and well he may be. 
What met my eyes as I entered the house (it was a dull and gloomy November 
day several years ago), was a neat compact batch of seedlings with good dark 
green and glossy foliage, and on one of them several trusses of expanded flowers, 
such as I had never seen before. The colour was a peculiarly striking crimson, 
the truss many-flowered ; and each well-poised member of the umbel showed 
itself to perfection. The shape of the flower was something between 
salver-shaped, funnel-shaped, and bell-shaped, as botanists would say, all of 
which may be loosely rendered by “ a Brobdingnagian crimson jasmine.” I 
examined the flowers, and found that, like R. Falconeri, they had little or no 
calyx ; that the anthers, though those of hybrids, were nevertheless well 
furnished with pollen ; and that the leaves showed through a lens the scales and 
pitted marks peculiar to certain Rhododendrons with which I was well 
acquainted. The colour I have said was peculiar, and this is a feature of the 
strain, for the red and crimson are totally different from the reds and crimsons 
of the hardier varieties ; and the coral, orange, and yellow are scarcely to be 
found outside the limits of the strain, or the parents which produced it. Seedlings 
of all the above and other colours have unfolded their blossoms since my first 
visit. Each year has produced some new varieties ; I think the last was the 
Maiden’s Blush, which, as a tiny plant, with one truss of large and most striking 
flowers, was exhibited at the great horticultural show a ver}^ few weeks ago. 
One of the most beautiful of them all is x R. ” Taylori,” of a brilliant colour, 
and named most appropriately after the founder of the race. “ Duchess of 
Edinburgh ” was my first friend, and never ceases to delight me. “ Duchess 
OF Teck ” is light buff shaded with orange ; “ Prince Leopold,” a mixture of 
fawn and rose and yellow ; “ Duke of Edinburgh ” is coral-pink ; “ Princess 
Royal” (the oldest of the family), blushing or rosy-pink; and “Princess 
Alexandra,” pure white. The plants thrive best in very small pots, which 
points to their epiphytal tendencies ; they bloom freely when small, and I have 
seen them blooming in many different months, in the depth of winter and in 
the blaze of a seasonable midsummer. A horticulturist should not content 
himself with collecting and cultivating pretty flowers, but he should, as far as 
in him lies, learn their native places, their history, their botanical peculiarities 
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