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RH O DO D É N D RON v en ustu ni.
Lovely Rosebay.
Linnean Class and Order. DECANDR IA MONOGYNIA.
N a tu ra l Order. ERICA C EÆ. Trib. 2. R h o d o r eæ . Don in edinb. phil.
journ. J u ly , 1834. p. 152.
R H O D O D E N D R O N . Supràfol. 10.
Sect. 2. Calycis limbo abbreviato 5-loho, corollâ campanulatâ, staminibus
10, capsulis 8-lO-locularibus, fo liis coriaceis sempervirentibus. Sp.
indicæ.
R. venustum, foliis sempervirentibus elliptico-oblongis subtùs ferrugineis, corollâ
campanulatâ ; lobis emarginatis crispatis, ovariis 8-locularibus tomentosis.
A very dwarf and bushy evergreen slirub, not exceeding
8 inches in height. Branches round, glabrous, dark red,
leafy. Leaves 4 or 5 inches in length, by 2 in breadth,
oblong-elliptical, rather pointed, coriaceous, dull green, and
veiny above, rusty brown beneath, with a stout red midrib,
the edges slightly recurved. Footstalks scarcely half an inch
long, stout, rounded, dark red, marked above by a shallow
furrow. Flowers ahout 15, in a compact cluster. Peduncles
cylindrical, an inch long, pale red, silky. Calyx silky and
fringed, 5-lobed, the lobes short, rounded, membranous.
Corolla campanulate, 5-lobed, of a rich pink, marked inside
all round with dark red spots; lobes oblong, notched, wavy,
and crumpled at the edges, which are also of a much
paler colour, being nearly white. Stamens 10, declinate,
shorter than the corolla. Filaments awl-shaped, white,
copiously hairy at the base. Anthers yellow', apparently
quite perfect, opening at the top by two pores. Ovarium
copiously downy, 8-celled. Style filiform, declinate, longer
than the stamens, thickened at the top. Stigma projecting
beyond the corolla, rounded convex, viscid.
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