and, therefore, cannot receive from us any such 
extended notice as a mere flower-fancier would 
pronounce it to deserve. The azaleas and rho- 
dodendrons are by many writers accounted one 
genus, under the name azalea. The principal 
difficulty emanating from their separation is that 
of determining to which genus the numerous 
hybrids that have been propagated between the 
two should be attached. 
The clammy species, Azalea viscosa, formerly 
called the white azalea, was introduced to Great. 
Britain from North America in 1734. From its 
root rise several slender brown stems, to the 
height of about 4 feet. Its leaves are spear- 
shaped, narrow at the base, rough in the border, 
and grow in clusters. Its flowers come out be- 
tween the leaves, and terminate the branches ; 
they diffuse an agreeable fragrance ; they closely 
resemble in their form the flowers of honeysuckle, 
each having a tube of nearly an inch in length, 
divided at the top into five segments, two of which 
are reflexed; they are white with an exterior of 
bad yellow in the normal plant, but red in two 
of the varieties, and variegated in some others; 
| and they bloom in July, but are seldom, in the 
| open ground of British gardens, succeeded by 
seeds. The principal well-established varieties 
of this species—of which above one hundred are 
named—are the scented, the curled, the filleted, 
the pencilled, the variegated, the cleft, the rubes- 
cent, and the pubescent. 
The naked flowered species, Azalea nudiflora, 
formerly called the red azalea, was also intro- 
duced to Great Britain from North America in 
1734. Its stems rise, and its flowers are formed, 
like those of the preceding species ; its leaves are 
oval, smooth, and entire, and are placed alter- 
nately on the branches; and its flowers appear in 
May and June, are produced in clusters, on long 
naked footstalks, from the sides of the branches, 
and are red in the normal plant, but exhibit the 
various hues of pink, scarlet, blush, and even 
white in the several varieties. The well-estab- 
lished varieties are no fewer than about fifty in 
number ; and the principal of these have re- 
ceived descriptive Latin names which signify the 
white, the double-white, the soft, the proliferous, 
the purple, the sparkling, the thyrse-flowered, 
the pale-coloured, the flesh-coloured, the party- 
coloured, the variegated, the butterfly, the cor- 
ymbose, the Carolina, the semidouble, the red, 
the ruddy, the roseate, the glomerated, the glo- 
bose, the small-flowered, the variable, the three- 
coloured, the violet-coloured, the proliferous, the 
fastigiated, the florid, the flesh, the scarlet, the 
mountain, the magnificent, the double-purple, 
and the wonderful. Very many beautiful hybrid 
varieties, all different from those now mentioned, 
were raised a few years ago at Highclerc, the 
seat of the Harl of Caernarvon; and upwards of 
thirty of these are particularly brilliant, and have 
been warmly noticed by Loudon both in his Gar- 
dener’s Magazine and his Hortus Britannicus. 
{i 
AZALEA. 301 | 
These hybrids were produced from the Azalea 
nudiflora rubescens, fertilized by the pollen of 
the variety of Azalea calendulacew, called Lee’s 
Triumphant. : 
The marigold-like species, Azalea calendulacee, 
like the two preceding species, usually grows to 
the height of about 4feet. Its principal varieties 
are about twelve in number, and produce sever- 
ally yellow, orange, saffron-coloured, or red flowers 
in May and June.—The Pontic species, Azalea 
pontica, was introduced from Turkey in 1793; 
and usually grows to the height of about 6 feet. 
Its principal varieties are about ten in number, | 
and produce yellow, white, and copper-coloured 
flowers, some in May and June, and others from 
March till May. The canescent species, Azalea 
canescens, grows to the height of 3 feet, and pro- 
duces red flowers. The glaucous, the two-col- 
oured, and the hispid species, grow to the height 
of respectively 2, 4, and 15 feet; and the second 
produces striped flowers in May and June, while 
the other two produce white flowers in June. 
The arborescent and the shining species produce 
respectively red and white flowers in July; and 
the former attains a height of 10 or 12 feet. The 
showy species, Azalea speciosa, has been multi- 
plied into a number of varieties, most of which 
carry red, scarlet, or orange-coloured flowers. 
All the preceding species are hardy and deci- 
duous; and, excepting the Pontic, are natives of 
North America. But the Indian species, Azalea | 
indica, is an evergreen and a native of China, 
and requires in Great Britain the culture of the 
greenhouse. Six principal varieties of it are in 
cultivation, the variegated, the double-purple, | 
the orange, the white, the phenicea, and the 
agnescens; and the two last of these have, com- | 
paratively speaking, a very imposing appearance. 
—The Chinese species, Azalea sinensis, is also a 
tender evergreen, and produces yellow flowers. 
—Another and a more recently introduced spe- 
cies, which has been called Danielsvana, is also an 
evergreen and a native of China, and produces 
flowers of a carmine colour. 
The Indian and the shining species are propa- 
gated from cuttings in peat and loam; and all 
the other species are propagated from layers, or 
by the dividing of the root. The young shoots, 
selected for layers, must be slit and laid down, 
in the same manner as the layers of carnations ; 
and when the layers have struck good root, they 
may be removed into the nursery, and planted in 
lines at a small distance from one another, there 
to stand during at least one year preparatory to 
final planting. The best season for layering is 
autumn. After a plant has stood during a few 
years, it throws up many stems; and some of 
these may easily be taken off, with a portion of 
root at each, and planted either in the nursery 
ground, or in places where they are to remain. 
All the azaleas love a dry situation, and in fact 
take their name from a word which signifies dry 
or arid; and they are most at home ina soil of 
Sa anananswsnsnwsws=s—_a.a.a_caneS___——__——_—_—_—_—_———_) 
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