U,:
P L A T E XVI.
A Z A L E A PONTICA.
Yellow Pontic Azalea.
C L A S S V. ORDER L
PENTJNDRIJ4 MONOGYNIA. Five Chives. One Pointai.
G E N E R I C
CALYX. Perianthium monophyllum, quinquepartitum,
acutuni, ereitum, parvum, perfillens.
COKOLLA. Monopetala, campanulata, limbus
quinquefidus : laciniarum lateribus inflexis.
STAMINA. Filamenta quinqué, filiformla, receptáculo
infería, libera. Antlierae fimplices.
PisTiLLUM. Germen ovatum. Stylus filiformis,
longitudine corolla, perfiflens. Stigma
obtufum.
P E R I C A K P I U M . Capfula ovata, quinquelocularis,
quinquevalvis.
S E M I N A plurima, compreffa.
OES. Figura petali in aliis infundibuliformis, in
aliis campaniformis eft; ftamina in quibufdam
declinata longiffima.
S P E C I F I C
Azalea, foliis ovato-oblongis, pilofis, alternis;
floribus ampliflimis, luteis ; flaminibus longiflimis,
declinatis.
C H A R A C T E E .
EMPALEMENT. Cup one leaf with five divifions,
fliarp pointed, upright, fmall, and
permanent.
BLOSSOM. One petal, bell-iliaped, margin fivecleft:
fegraciits with the edges bent inwards.
C H I V E S . Threads five, thread-fliaped, fixed to
the receptacle, and loofe. Tips fimple.
P o i N T A L . Seed-bud egg-llraped. Shaft threadfliaped,
the length of the bloffom, permanent.
Summit blunt.
SEED-VESSEL. Capfule egg-lliaped, with five
cells, and five valves.
SEEDS many, and flat.
OBS. The fliape of tlie petal in fome is funnel-
Ihaped, in others bell-fliaped ; the chives in
fome are bent downward, and very long.
C H A R A C T E R .
Azalea, with oblong egg-fliaped leaves^ hairy,
and alternate; flowers very large, and yellow;
chives very long, and bent downward.
R E F E R E N C E TO THE PLATE.
1. The Empalement, (natural fize.)
2. The Chives as they appear within the blolTom.
3. The Seed-bud, Shaft, and Summit.
4. A Capfule cut horizontally, expoflng the number of its cells.
A M E R I C A has furniflied our gardens with an extenfive variety of beautiful flirubs; amongft them, the
Azaleas hold a diftinguiflied place; fome for the beauty, others for the fragrance, of their bloffoms:
the prefent fpecies far furpaflTes all of them for both. It is a native of the coafi; of the Black Sea, or
Pontus Euxinus, through the whole of its extent, on the Afiatic fide, from the city of Trebifonde;
from whence its trivial name. That a plant of fuch extreme beauty, and fweetnefs, fliould fo long
have been a ftranger to our European gardens, though known to, and defcribed by, fo many botanical
travellers, muft feem matter of wonder; but fiill it is an uncontefted faft. Monf, Tournefort, in his
Voyage to the Levant, has given an ample defcription of it, under the title of Chamaerhododendros
Pontica maxima, mefpili folio, flore luteo; where he fays, it grows to the height of feven or eight
feet, and that the flowers are of a moft exquifite flavour. Dr. P. Pallas, in his Flora Roflica, has likewife
figured, and defcribed it, under the name it here bears; but apparently his drawing was made
from a dried fpecimen, as the brilliancy of the flower is by no means preferved; but it is to him we
are indebted for this fine plant. In his voyage to the Crimea and countries adjacent, in 1792, he
procured the feeds of this, amongft many other valuable and rare plants; parcels of moft of which
were fent by him to Mefl"rs. Lee and Kennedy, Hammerfmith; by whom plants were raifed of it, and
many other forts, the next year. It is a deciduous fhrub, extremely hardy, and blows early in the
fpring; is propagated, like other Azalea.5, by layers and feeds; grows beft in peat earth, with a fmall
portion of loam.