Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-01
THE RH0DODENDRoN.


The "kalmia," or American laurel is q we'll
known bush, growing on all the mountains Of
the middle and northern states. The laurel is
much esteemed for its richly vanished ever
green leaves and its splendid array of delicately
tinted flowers. 1t frequently grows in dense
brakes in cool. moist places, forming what lie
called '.laurel thickets" 1t abounds on the
Alleghenies. 1t grows abundantly on almost
every part Of the mountain and is found in i'm
mense continuous brakes, frequently under
dense masses OF forest trees. seeming not to be
affected by the absence of light 1t bears a pro-
fusion of beautiful white and rose-colored
flowers, which are much admired. The leaves
and fruit of this species of laurel, the "kama,"
are poi sonous.
But by far the most beautiful of the laurel
order. the real pride of the mountain. is the
'Rhododendron," or Rose Bay tree This
splendid plant. which is called ''big laurel" is
not laurel. but closely allied to it. IL differs
from the kalmia very essentially. The Rhode
dendron unlike the kalmia. is not poisonous.
and differs i'm its foliage and infiorescence being
much more imperial and distinguished. With
the common laurel it covers considerable tracts
of the mountain forests, and. like the common
laurel, seeks the cool. seQuestered shades of the
deepest wllds preferring the banks of noun
tain streams and unfrequented places. The Rho
dodendron grows upon the sand soil in the
toughest parts of the mountain, fiourishing like
an imperial chief of its order in unapproachable
secusion
Together the Kalmia and Rhododendron form
thickets so dense and interviewer that it is al
most impossible for q man or animal to pass
through them, thus making wall as impassa-
BILE as Mexican chapparal. They have been
from time 1mmemOrial the terror of the hunts
man, as his life was in danger if he attempted
to penetrate their ineXtricable labyrinths. They
are also the horror of the husbandman who has
the audacity to attempt to clean the surface
where they grow. and especially are they the
trouble of the surveyor. who, with the transit
and compass axe and chain intrudes upon them.
Many a youthful engineer will remember the
days of his chain-carrying and rod-ffxing
through these thickets. The engineer corps
who located the railroads across the Allegheny
mountains discovered the skeletons of several
men who had been lost and starved to death in
these thickets of laurel and RhodOdendron
The style and growth of the Rhododendron is
peculiar. The stems writhe and twist them
selves together in every conceivable shape of
knots and tOrtulties and wherever the branches
touch the ground they take root and the plant
grows afresh at this point. Thus an ihterlaced
web of stems almost as stiff and as hard as iron,
is stretched over large extents, which are as i'm
passable as Mexican chapparal. The lover of
the beauty of the woods. however. will find in
these sylvan labyrinths. these evergreen seas
of living plants, an attractive department of the
mountain flora. During the inforescence OF the
RhododendrOn it is impossible to conceive ofany-
thing more beautiful than its mass Of flowers;
which are borne in large snowy terminal corymbs
of clusters. The flowers are of apale rose color.
and sometimes snow white, the greenish throat
of each blossom being spotted with yellow or red.
Its large. thick, COURAGEOUS leaves frequently at
tain the length of eleven or twelve inches. Du-
ring winter and in intense cold they fold or coil
up longitudinally, each leaf showing roll like
a large cigar, which drops down close along the
terminal twigs of the bush. When branch In
this condition is carried into a heated chamber
the leaves will be seen expanding and rising from
the close, compact bunch. and assuming the fiat
or patent attitude, the points stretching upward
as in the summer air.
In full foliage and inflorescence the Rhododen-
drOn stands the monarch of the American heath,
| and always impresses the beholder with emo
lions of delight. 1t presents striking contrast
with the more homely and familiar forms of the
other tribes of bushes.