Tas. 4997. 
RHODODENDRON Tuomsont. 
. 
Dr. Thomson's Rhododendron. 
Nat. Ord. Er1ck#.—Drcanpria Monoaynta. 
Gen. Char. (Vide supra, Tas. 4336.) 
RHoDODENDRON Thomsoni ; frutex cortice pallide papyraceo, foliis in ramos ter- 
minales coriaceis glaberrimis orbiculari-ellipticis obtusissimis apiculatis basi 
cordatis supra late virentibus subtus glaucescentibus margine subrecurvo, 
petiolo gracili, corymbis plurifloris, pedunculis longitudine petiolorum, flo- 
ribus radiatim patentibus cernuisve, calyce amplo cylindraceo-cyathiformi 
basi retuso inzequaliter lobato, lobis erectis obtusissimis, corolla intense san- 
guinea coriaceo-nitida, tubo elongato-campanuliformi, limbi lobis 5 patenti- 
subrecurvis profunde emarginatis superioribus intus maculatis, staminibus 
10, filamentis nudis, ovario conico-cylindraceo glaberrimo 6—10-loculari, 
stylo gracili, capsula calyce cylindraceo persistente 2 tecta. Hook. fil. 
RuopoprnpRon Thomsoni. Hook. fil. Rhod. Sik.-Himal. t. 12, et in Journ. Hort. 
Soc. of London, p. 77. 
8, Candelabrum ; floribus pallidioribus, calycis brevioris marginibus ovariisque 
glanduloso-pilosis. 
RaopopENDRON Candelabrum. Hook. fil. Rhod. Sik.-Him. t. 29. 
Native of the inner and outer ridges of the mountains of 
Sikkim-Himalaya, abundant at elevations varying from eleven 
to thirteen thousand feet. Mr. Methven, of the Stanwell Nur- 
series, Bonnington Road, Edinburgh, was so fortunate as to 
flower this charming species in April of the present year (1857), 
and was so good as to transmit the specimen here figured. From 
the elevation at which this plant is found above the sea-level, it 
may be justly esteemed a hardy plant ; but it must be understood 
that except we have the power of retarding the blossoms, we can 
only look for their proper development in unusually favourable 
seasons, save with the protection of a frame or cool greenhouse. 
The calyx affords a very distinct feature in this species, and al- 
though in the Rhododendron Candelabrum of Dr. Hooker it ts 
much shorter than in the present plant, it has nevertheless the 
same general form and character, and that author has with pro- 
AUGUST lst, 1857. 
