CD ROM of Hybrid Rhododendrons
Homer Salley
Corinth, Mississippi

The contractual obligation for this work has been completed by the compilation of a hybrid rhododendron computer database with many color illustrations, inclusive of lepidotes and elepidotes, excluding azaleas and vireyas.

The third edition of Rhododendron Hybrids appears on the computer monitor from the new CD ROM in a familiar format similar to that of the two previous editions published by Timber Press, but with three major improvements: 1) Find or search capability of Adobe Acrobat is fast, almost instantaneous, when you enter a name to be located. Call up 'Bud's Yellow' or 'Carolina Nude' for tests. 2) Color illustrations are now with the plant descriptions and parentage diagrams instead of being in another location of the book. 3) There are many more illustrations than shown in the two earlier editions; in fact, there are over 200 more color images than the combined number of both the 1986 and the 1992 editions.

Size of the database contained in the CD ROM is immense: 1,753 legal length pages (8.5 in.x14 in.) if printed to paper-not a practical book to take out to the garden. A more likely outside portability would be to use the new third edition with a laptop computer, weight c.7 pounds. Some few pages may be printed out at times as the user has need. Use legal size paper and a color printer.

The author is not the publisher. Distribution of the CD ROM will be by a publisher or the ARS Research Foundation or the ARS office and should be announced in the April issue of the Journal. Cost of the database without the computer will be much less than a printed book, but it would not be usable without a computer, either desktop or portable. Distribution via the Internet is a consideration after initial recovery of the Research Foundation's expenses advanced the author as a research grant, $3,000.

We must feel much respect and gratitude for all those whose color images appear in the 1,408 color illustrations. Over three-fourths (1,096 or 78 percent) of the 1,408 color illustrations were made by only twenty-one photographers as listed below. Full credit to all photographers is shown under the photos. The twenty-one largest contributors are named here: Dr. Richard Gustafson, 187; Hans Hachmann, 134; Dr. David Lewis, 128; Dr. Homer Salley, 80; Paul James, 62; Dr. Russell Gilkey, 57; Jim Barlup, 50; Lois Sturdivant, 50; Wayne Mezitt, 50; Morna Stockman, 43; Ray Redford, 42; Harold Greer, 31; Dr. David Goheen, 30; Dr. Jim Browning, 30; Weldon Delp, 29; Dr. S. L. Krebs, 22; Robert Blough, 17; Martha Prince, 17; Bruce Briggs, 16; George Ring III, 12; John Lofthouse, 9.

A few noted hybridizers who had little or no coverage in previous books on rhododendron hybrids have now achieved some of their deserved place in rhododendron literature. To mention a few: Morna and Harold Stockman, Port Angeles, WA; Orlando S. Pride, whose work has been preserved by Dr. Jim Browning, Pittsburgh; Jim Barlup, Bellevue, WA; Dr. W. L. Rhein, Mechanicsburg, PA; Velma and the late Russell Haag, Brevard, NC; the late Ben and Marion Shapiro, East Brunswick, NJ; Dr. Mark Brand with the late Dr. G. A. L. Mehlquist, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.

Two unique features seldom published include the reproductions of hand-colored flower trusses in the extremely old horticultural journals preserved in the Lloyd Library, Cincinnati, Ohio (see 'Altaclerense') and the enlarged photo images of scales on lepidote foliage prepared by Kenwyn Clapp, Plympton, Devon, England (see 'Wakehurst', scales of R. rubiginosum ).

This author, without royalty, is now chiefly a compiler of works by others. Chief contributors: Jay Murray, North American Registrar, who answered endless numbers of questions and prepared the published registrations for the ARS Journal; Dr. Alan Leslie who prepares the published registrations for the Annual Supplements, International Rhododendron Register; Harold Greer, co-author, who gave permission to begin the database with the text of the second edition; Timber Press who gave permission also for the electronic edition; Sally Salley who did many fractions of the species in the parentage diagrams; Greg and Pat Williams, publishers of Hortldeas, who gave technical support; Dr. Richard Gustafson, chief photo contributor, proofreader and reviewer; Ronald Whisenant, frequent computer consultant.

Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges the support from the ARS Research Foundation. Effective initial date of three-year contract: July 7, 1997. Progress reports appear in the Journal April 1998 and April 1999.