The Azaleas are favorite flowering shrubs in florists’ collections at
the present day, and are remarkable for the delicacy of their flowers
and the purity of their colors. In New England are only two species,—the
Swamp Honeysuckle and the colored Azalea, a prostrate shrub bearing pink
flowers. It cannot be doubted that the interest attached to a flower is
greatly increased by finding it in the wild wood. I have frequently
observed this effect and the opposite upon suddenly meeting a garden
flower in a field or wood-path, or a wild flower in the garden. When the
Swamp Honeysuckle is seen growing with the fairer Azaleas of the
florists in cultivated grounds, its inferiority is most painfully
apparent; but when I encounter it in some green solitary dell in the
forest, bending over the still waters, where all the scenes remind me
only of nature, I am affected with more pleasure than by a display of
the more beautiful species in a garden or greenhouse.
[Illustration: SWAMP AZALEA]
The Swamp Honeysuckle is one of the most interesting of the New England
flowering shrubs, and a very well known species. It comes into flower
about the first of July, and is recognized by its fragrance,—resembling
that of the marvel of Peru,—by the similarity of its flowers to those of
the woodbine, and their glutinous surface. It is found only in wet
places, and delights in suspending its flowers over a gently flowing
stream, the brink of a pool, or the margin of a pond, blending its odors
with those of water-lilies, and borrowing a charm from the reflection of
its own beauty on the surface of the still water. Though it bears no
fruit, every rambler in the woods is grateful for the perfume it sheds
around him while wandering in quest of its flowers. These are extremely
delicate in texture and closely resemble those of the common white
honeysuckle or woodbine of our gardens, not only in their general shape,
but also in the appearance of several wilted flowers in the same cluster
with perfect flowers and buds. A pulpy excrescence is often attached to
this plant, which is familiarly known by the name of “swamp apple.” It
is slightly acidulous and sweet, and, though nearly insipid, is not
disagreeable in flavor.
A more beautiful but less common species, with pale crimson flowers, is
found in certain localities, that tends to multiply into varieties. It
is a smaller shrub than the white Azalea, and does not show the same
preference for wet places. All the species are more remarkable for their
flowers than their foliage, which is of a pale glaucous green and small
in quantity.