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Rhododendron

a genus of trees caceæ, having 10 stamens, a very small calyx, and a bellcalyx, and a bell-shaped or somewhat The buds in this and nearly allied genera, as azalea, are . The species are numerous; they have evergreen leaves, and many of them are of great beauty, both in foliage and in flowers. A few small species are natives of continental Eunumber belong to the temperate parts of rope and of Siberia; but the greater North America, and to the mountains of India. R. maximum , so designated when the far larger Indian species were unknown, is common in North America as an ornamental shrub. It is a large penetrable thickets on many parts of the shrub or small tree, which forms im- Allegheny Allegheny mountains. The leaves are dark green and shining above rusty brown beneath. The flow- RHODODENDRON ers are large, varying in color from pale carmine to lilac. This species is quite hardy in Great Britain; as is also R. ponticum, a very similar species, with narrower and more pointed leaves, which are of the same color on both sides, a native of western Asia, and apparently also of the S. of Spain. R. catawbiense, a native of the S. parts of the Alleghenies, with large purple flowers; R. Caucasicum, the name of which indicates its origin; and R. arboreum, a native of Nepal, with very dense heads of large scarlet flowers. Most of the RHODODENDRON extremely numerous varieties now common in our gardens and shrubberies have been produced from them by hybridizing or otherwise. Many splendid species of rhododendrons were discovered in the Himalayas, the Khasia hills, and other mountainous parts of India, and have been introduced into cultivation in Europe. R. Falconeri is described as in foliage the most superb of all, the leaves being 18 or 19 inches long. It is a tree 30 to 50 feet high, with leaves only at the extremities of the branches. It grows in eastern Nepal at an altitude of 10,000 feet. R. argenteum has flowers 4½ inches long, and equally_broad, clustered, and very beautiful. R. Maddeni, R. Aucklandii, R. Edgeworthii, and others have white flowers. R. Dalhousiæ is remarkable as an epiphyte, growing on magnolias, laurels, and oaks. It is a slender shrub, bearing from three to six white lemonscented bells, 4½ inches long, at the end of each branch. R. Nuttali has fragrant white flowers, said to be larger than those of any other rhododendron. All RHONDDA these belong to the Himalayas. In more southern latitudes, as on the Neilgherry Hills and on the mountains of Ceylon, R. nobile prevails, a timber tree 50 to 70 feet high, every branch covered with a blaze of crimson flowers. R. Keysii and R. Thibaudiense, also natives of the N. of India, have flowers with nearly tubular corolla. R. ferrugineum and R. hirsutum are small species, natives of the Alps. They are called Alpenrose (Alpine rose) by the Germans. They have small carmine-colored flowers. The flora of the Himalayas contains a number of similar small species. R. anthopogon and R. setosum, dwarf shrubs with strongly scented leaves, clothe the mountains in eastern Nepal. R. nivale is the most alpine of woody plants, spreading its small woody branches close to the ground at an elevation of 1,700 feet in Sikkim. R. lapponicum, a procumbent shrub, with small flowers, grows as far N. as human settlements have reached in Europe, Asia, and the United States. An oil obtained from the buds of R. ferrugineum and R. hirsutum is used by the inhabitants of the Alps, under the name Olio di Marmotta, as a remedy for pains in the joints, gout, and stone. R. chrysanthum, a low shrub, with golden yellow flowers, a native of Siberia, is also used in gout and rheumatism. R. cinnabarinum, a Himalayan species, poisons goats which feed on it.

But the flowers of R. arboreum are eaten in India, and Europeans make a palatable jelly of them.