opportunity of visiting during my sojourn in Nipal, occupy- 

 ing the very summit of it, at an elevation of not less than 

 10,000 feet above the sea. I observed a considerable 

 number of individuals, but it appeared to me that those 

 with rose-coloured flowers were by far the most common. 

 They attain the size of very large forest trees, and are noble 

 objects at all times. They blossom simultaneously in April, 

 in which state the beauty of them surpasses all description, 

 the ample crown of the trees being entirely covered with 

 bunches of large and elegant blossoms. The common red- 

 flowered or parent species is likewise found on the above- 

 mentioned mountain, but it is less frequent there than in 

 lower situations, where it blossoms a month earlier, that is, 

 in March. 



"There cannot be the slightest doubt that the above- 

 mentioned trees are mere varieties of the common Rhodo- 

 dendron arhoreum ; and if it were necessary to adduce proofs 

 of this, in addition to the fact that in every essential cha- 

 racter they perfectly agree, I should mention that I have 

 actually seen the white and rose-coloured sorts gradually 

 change into each other, as well as into the colour of the 

 parent tree. The only marks of distinction from the latter 

 consist in the more or less brown colour of the lower sur- 

 face of the leaves, which both varieties have in common, 

 and the colour of the flowers, which in our variety is pure 

 white, with a very slight tinge of pale pink on the base of 

 two or three of the lobes of the corolla. I am convinced, 

 moreover, that from the great elevation at which the varie- 

 ties are found, they will prove hardy trees in this country ; 

 and that even the common Nipal Rhododendron, provided 

 the individuals are derived from mountains not lower than 

 that at which its varieties grow, will also stand the climate 

 of England." 



We regret to find that experience does not confirm the 

 expectations of our learned friend ; for all the Indian Rho- 

 dodendrons appear to be incapable of enduring the climate 

 of Great Britain. The only way to cultivate them success- 

 fully, is to treat them as hardy conservatory plants. 



