QBARS - v8n3 Additional Notes on R. 'Beauty of Littleworth'

Additional Notes on R. 'Beauty of Littleworth'
Del James, Eugene, Oregon

In the April 15, 1954 issue of the Quarterly Bulletin of the American Rhododendron Society. the editor in writing of R. 'Beauty of Littleworth' remarks about the scanty information available relative to the parents, and the history of this plant. The following is a quotation from one of the letters written to Mrs. James and myself on April 10, 1946 by the late Mr. C. P. Raffill, who was assistant Curator at Kew Gardens for many years.

"'Beauty of Littleworth' is magnificent. I named it about forty years ago after the late Mr. Mangles Estate of Littleworth, as he raised it. It is R. campanulatum x R. griffithianum and has large trusses of flowers which open with white buds tinted faintly with magenta, but this fades quickly to pure white large flowers, spotted on the upper part of the inside of the flower with reddish violet. It makes a large shrub and is a grand grower, easy to grow and flowers freely."

We wonder if anyone has the history of the origin of some of the other older hybrids?