Tas. 4381, 
RHODODENDRON Niaciricum. 
Neelgherry Rhododendron. 
Nat. Ord. Ertctnra.—Decanpria Monoeynia. 
Gen. Char. (Vide supra, Tas. 4336.) 
RiopopENDRON Nilagiricum; arboreum, foliis oblongo-lanceolatis acutis coria- 
ceis reticulatim venosis margine revolutis supra opacis subtus dense laxe 
ferrugineo-tomentosis, racemo terminali capitato amplo, calyce parvo bre- 
vissime 5-lobo, corolla campanulata segmentis undulatis rotundatis bilobis, 
filamentis declinatis inequalibus, ovario hirsuto 10-loculari. 
RiHopopENDRON Nilagiricum. “ Zenker, Plant. Nilag. cum Ic.” Ann. Se. Nat: 
Bot. 2nd Series, v. 6. p. 150. 
* 
In no instance whatever have I seen, cither in gardens or in 
native specimens, the true Rhododendron arboreum having the 
leaves covered beneath with lax, dark, rusty tomentum ; nor are 
they so described by Sir James Smith,* the original authority 
for the plant. His term is very expressive, “clothed with white 
dense downiness beneath, so compact, indeed, that it gives them 
quite a silvery aspect ;” and “folia subtus argenteo-pannosa’ 
would perhaps describe the appearance better than any other 
words. Such is exactly the case with original specimens of 
Sir James Smith in my Herbarium: such are those of Dr. Wallich 
from Nepal, collected in 1821; and such are our friend Dr. 
Thomas Thomson’s specimens, gathered at Nynee Tal, Kamaon. 
The upper surface of the leaves, too, is smooth and somewhat 
glossy, indistinctly impressed with reticulations. 
In the spring of the present year I had the pleasure of 
Teceiving, from Messrs. Lucombe, Pince, and Co., the fine 
Specimen of Rhododendron here figured, the offspring of “seed 
Sent from Nepal.” So different are the leaves from those of 
R. arboreum, that I certainly considered it distinct ; and, on com- 
* Exotic Botany, tab. 6. See also an excellent figure of R. arboreum, in Bot. 
S- t.890; where the author describes the underside of the leaves as “ argenteo- 
ta,” a character totally at variance with our plant. 
JULY lst, 1848. yi 
ee 
CaN, 
