then, are trees or shrubs, never herbs, with simple, evergreen or deciduous leaves, and flowers in terminal clusters surrounded in the bud by bud-scales but not as a rule by true leaves. The flowers are remarkable for the frequent absence or reduced condition of the calyx. The funnel-or bell-shaped corolla, on the other hand, with its five or more lobes, is usually conspicuous, and in some species so much so as to render these plants greatly prized in gardens. The free stamens are usually ten, with slender filaments and anthers opening by pores at the top. The ovary is five-or many-celled, ripening into a long woody pod which splits from top to bottom by a number of valves, which break away from the central placenta and liberate a large number of small bran-like seeds provided with a membranous wing-like appendage at each end. The species are for the most part natives of the mountainous regions of the northern hemisphere, extending as far south as the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea, but not hitherto found in South America or Australia. None are natives of Britain. They vary greatly in stature, some of the alpine species being mere pigmies with minute leaves and tiny blossoms, while some of the Himalayan species are moderate sized trees with superb flowers. Some are epiphytal, growing on the branches of other trees, but not deriving their sustenance from them. The varieties grown in gardens are mostly derived from the Pontic species (A. ponticum) and the Virginian R. catawbieηse. These are mostly hardy in England. The common Pontic variety is excellent for game-covert from its hardiness, the shelter it affords, and the fact that hares and rabbits rarely eat it. Variety of colour has been infused by crossing or hybridizing the species first-named, or their derivatives, with some of the more gorgeously-coloured Indian varieties. In many instances this has been done without sacrifice of hardihood, but even where the infusion of Indian blood has brought about a tenderness of constitution the magnificence of the bloom amply repays the very slight shelter which is requisite in winter.

What are termed greenhouse rhododendrons are derivatives from certain Malayan and Javanese species, and are consequently much more tender. They are characterized by the possession of a cylindrical (not funnel-shaped) flower-tube and other marks of distinction. Azaleas now referred to Rhododendron are derived from Chinese and Japanese species chiefly. The “Indian” azaleas, so-called, have nearly evergreen foliage like a rhododendron, but with stiff hairs on the under surface of the leaf, and the flower-buds comprise leaves and not bud-scales only as in true rhododendrons. Rhododendron (Azalea) indicum is truly a native of China and Japan, but not of India. What are called in gardens Ghent azaleas are hardy varieties with deciduous gummy foliage and tufts of fragrant, brilliantly-coloured flowers. These are derivatives from A. calendulacea, A. viseosa, and other north-east American species. Another group of garden azaleas are derivatives from Rhododendron (Azalea) sinense (of which A. mollis is a form). These are scarcely less hardy than the preceding. Azalea amoena of gardens is a dwarf form of R. indicum, remarkable for having “hose in hose” flowers, a state of things brought about by the fact that the calyx in this variety becomes petaloid like the corolla. The foliage of rhododendrons contains much tannin, and has been used medicinally. Whether the honey mentioned by Xenophon as poisonous was really derived from plants of this genus as alleged is still an open question.