Tas. 5552. 
RHODODENDRON Hopesost. 
Mr. Hodgson’s Ithododendron. 
Nat. Ord. Ertces.—Decanpraia Monoeynia. 
Gen. Char. (Vide supra, Tax. 4336.) 
RuopopEenpron Hodgsoni ; frutex robustus, ramis cortice papyraceo tectis, 
ramulis crassis tomentosis, foliis amplis obovato-oblongis oblongisve 
obtusis supra glabris subtus tomento argenteo v. subrufo opertis, basi 
rotundatis subcordatisve, petiolis crassis, capitulis magnis multifloris 
densis, calyce obsoleto, corolla late campanulata pallide purpurea 
8-10-loba, staminibus 16-18, ovario pubescente 10-16-loculari. 
Ruopopenpron Hodgsoni. Hook. f. Sikkim Rhod. t.15, et in Journ. Hort. 
Soc. Lond. v.7. p. 76. 
Ruopopenpron sp. Griff: Notule, v. 14. p. 303. Te. t. 521. 
One of the noblest of the grand series of Rhododendrons 
that adorn the Eastern Himalayan mountains, discovered by 
Griffith in Bhotan in 1838, and gathered by myself in the 
alpine valleys of Eastern al and Sikhim, at elevations of 
10-12,000 feet. It flowered“tn.the temperate house of Kew 
in April of last year. This is one of the finest of all the 
Rhododendrons in foliage; the trunk is remarkable for its 
pale brown papery bark, which flakes offin patches as broad 
as the hand ; and the leaves often attain eighteen inches in 
length. Of the wood the mountaineers make spoons, cups, 
saddles, etc., and the leaves are used as platters for butter, 
curds, etc. ; 
Descr. A large shrub or almost a tree, ten to twenty feet 
high; main branches horizontal, almost as thick as the 
thigh; bark smooth, papery, flaking off; wood white, close- 
grained. Leaves ample, spreading, eight to eighteen inches 
long, oblong or oblong-obovate, obtuse or subacute, very 
coriaceous, glabrous and glossy above, beneath clothed with 
JANUARY Ils, 1565. 
