Supplement  to 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
221 
March  14,  1901. 
is  only  now  6  inches  high.  It  is  in  good  health,  but  has  no  signs  of 
flowering. 
As  perhaps  a  few  words  on  the  introduction  and  subsequent 
crossing  of  the  present  race  of  Java  hybrids  would  be  interesting,  I 
will  endeavour  to  trace  a  few  of  them.  This  section  iB  divided  into 
four  groups: — 1,  Javanico-jasminiflorum  ;  2,  Balsaminaeflorum  ; 
3,  Malayanum  ;  and  4,  Multicolor.  All  the  scores  of  varieties  in 
these  sections  have  been  raised  from  the  following  seven  species  : — 
R.  jasminiflorum,  introduced  by  Lobb  in  1849  from  Mt.  Ophir, 
and  shown  in  1850  at  a  Chiswick  show,  where  it  caused  a 
great  amount  of  interest  ;  also  R.  javanicum,  Lobbi,  Teysmanni, 
Brookeanum,  Malay anum,  and  Multicolor.  All  these,  except 
javanicum,  were  introduced  by  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Veitch  and 
Sons,  Ltd.,  through  their  travellers  Lobb  and  Curtis,  and  by  their 
able  hybridist  Mr.  J.  Heal. 
though  the  colour  is  much  improved,  as  also  is  the  form.  Throughout, 
those  crossed  with  Lobbi  and  Brookeanum  gracile  range  in  colour  from 
white  to  pink,  and  on  to  red  in  varying  shades.  For  the  many 
exquisite  yellows  we  have  to  look  to  Teysmanni,  introduced  from 
Sumatra  by  Lobb.  The  species  itself  is  a  bad  pot  plant,  though  a 
good  parent.  Ceres,  one  of  the  first  raised  (Teysmanni  X  javanicum), 
is  a  fine  variety,  the  seeds  of  which  were  sown  in  1886  and  flowered 
in  1891 ;  but  still  finer  is  Exquisite,  from  the  same  parents,  because 
of  its  bright  red  anthers  and  clear  colour. 
The  following  varieties  can  be  recommended  as  having  large  and 
freely  produced  flowers.  White. — Princess  Alexandra  and  Purity. 
Pink. — Luteo-roseum,  P.  Royal,  Taylori,  and  Aphrodite.  Red  and 
Orange  Shades. — Brilliant,  Diadem,  Hercules,  which  affords  the  finest 
trusses  and  largest  flowers  of  the  group  ;  Souvenir  J.  H.  Mangles,  and 
President.  Yellow  — Ariel,  Exquisite,  and  Cloth  of  Gold  (R.  Lord 
RHODODENDRON  CLOTH  OF  GOLD. 
Javan*  co-jaeminiflorum. 
This  is  the  largest  section  of  the  Javanese  Rhododendrons, 
numbering  sixty  or  more  varieties,  that  have  been  distributed  and 
found  worthy  of  cultivation.  As  seen  by  the  name,  these  are  the 
progeny  of  the  two  species,  R.  javanicum  and  R.  jasminiflorum.  In 
crossing,  it  is  found  that  better  results  are  obtained  by  using  a  true 
species  as  one  of  the  parents  than  with  two  hybrids,  and  that  the 
character  of  the  female  often  smothers  that  of  the  male.  It  is  curious 
to  note  that  no  incisions  of  the  leaf  have  as  yet  appeared,  though  great 
uncertainty  as  to  colour  and  size  of  flower  originate  from  the  same 
seed  pods. 
The  first  hybrid  raised  in  1850  was  Princess  Royal,  between  the 
above  named  species,  in  which  we  see  that  a  white  and  an  orange  red 
result  in  giving  a  pink  variety  with  the  jasminiflorum  form  pre¬ 
dominating  ;  the  same  in  R.  J.-j.  var.  carminatum  (a  sister  hybrid), 
Wolseley  X  R.  Teysmanni),  which  we  herewith  illustrate.  It 
received  an  award  of  merit  on.  November  24th,  1896.  The  same 
floriferous  trusses  of  brilliantly  coloured  blooms  are  produced  by  all 
these  warm  greenhouse  Rhododendrons,  and  as  they  are  chiefly 
winter-flowering,  their  worth  cannot  well  be  over-estimated. 
Malayanum  Section. 
The  species  was  introducrd  by  Lobb  in  1854,  and  has  small  red 
flowers  and  leaves  covered  with  reddish-brown  hairs  beneath.  As 
yet  there  is  only  one  hybrid  with  this  species,  named  Little  Beauty, 
a  cross  between  R.  Monarch  and  R.  Malayanum.  It  differs  little 
from  the  species  beyond  making  a  more  compact  bush,  and  has 
brighter  flowers  freely  produced.  This  Little  Beauty  has  five  out  of 
the  seven  species  before  mentioned  in  its  parentage,  Teysmanni  and 
multicolor  being  absent. — F.  S.  Sillitoe. 
