Sê\
' 'lu
l'iiî il.
A ' , - *
i  i W t ì ì # ^
; J k M W . ; . ” ,¿1?
R H O D O D E N D R O N Smithii.
Smith's hybrid Rhododendron.
Linnean Class ^ Order. P E N T -D E C A N D R IA M O N O G Y N IA .
Natural Order. E R IC EÆ . D . Don prodr. flo r. nepal. p . 148.
Subordo I I I . R H O D O R A C EÆ . D . Don loc. cit. p. 152.
R H O D O D E N D R O N . Supra folio 10. series 2 .
S e c t .\ . R h o d o d e n d r a . Corolla campanulata aut subrotata. Stamina
10.— Frutices v. Arbores, sempervirentes aut rarissime subdeciduis ;
ramis glabris v. pulverulento-pubescentibus, raro hirsutis. Folia coriacea,
oblonga, ovata, v. elliptica, glabra aut subtus subtomentosa. Flores corymbosi,
speciosi, coccinei, rosei, purpurei, lilacini, albi, aut lutei.
R . Smithii, foliis elongato-lanceolatis acutis penninerviis reticulato-venosis
: junioribus viscoso-villosis subtus albo-tomentosis : adultis glabris
subtus pallidioribus, corymbis confertis multifloris, laciniis calycis inæqualibus
submembranaceis : inferiori obsoleti, corollis 5-angularibus
campanulatis limbo patentibus, staminibus inclusis, capsula 10-loculari
tomentosâ.
Rhododendron Smithii. Swt. hort. brit. ed. 2. p . 342.
dtl-.
A handsome evergreen shrub, or small tree. Leaves
alternate, but forming a sort of crowded whorl, oblongly or
elongately lanceolate, acute, feather-nerved,reticulately veined,
terminated in a short yellow horny point, with a strong
rigid midrib extending from the base to the point ; when
young viscous, and thickly clothed with villous wool, and
short white down at the back ; old ones smooth, of a bright
glossy green on the upper side, paler underneath. Retioles
short and stout, rugged, pubescent, purplish, viscous when
young. Flowers of a rosy purple, approaching to crimson.
Corymb terminal, many-flowered, about twenty in each on
our plant. Bractes variable in form and substance, clothed
with silky down, and fringed, deciduous, the outer ones
brown, rigid, ovate, concave, sharp-pointed ; the inner ones
between the flowers spathulate or lanceolate, membranaceous.
Peduncles short, viscous, pubescent. Calyx of 5 very
unequal segments, opposite to the furrows of the corolla ;
the two upper ones longest, obtuse, membranaceous ; the
two side ones shorter, the points bent inwards ; lower one
very short, the point also bent inwards. Corolla bell-shaped,
with a spreading 5-cleft limb, elegantly spotted with numerJ
: \ i