THE 
RHODODENDRONS 
OF 
STK KIM-HIMALAYA. 
iz has been well remarked by the illustrious Wallich, (the Father of Nepalese Botany,) that in Nepal the genus 
Rhododendron claims the highest rank amongst the plants of that rich kingdom. From the proximity of Sikkim to 
Nepal, a. similarity in the botanical features of these countries might be expected; and also that the difference should 
rather exist in individual species than in the genera or higher groups. ‘The outline of the two countries is very similar, 
their latitude the same, so is their geology, and the difference in climate is slight, and only evident in the increased 
humidity of the eastern region. 
Rhododendrons are distributed in Sikkim as they are in Nepal, crowning those sub-Himalayan hills which attain 7,000 
feet of elevation, and at a still greater altitude increasing in number of species and individuals: some species being replaced 
by others which have no greater, perhaps less, apparent adaptation for resisting vicissitudes of climate, and yet accompanying 
several of the more local kinds throughout the elevations they severally attain. 
I. As is frequently the case with large genera, one or more species, distinguished by peculiarity of distribution, 
often present some anomalies in botanical or other characters, whether in the unusual habit, mode of growth, or 
singular outline, colour, or more important feature. So it is with the Sikkim Rhododendrons. 2. Dalhousie, the only one 
found so low as at 7,000 feet, and thence upwards for 3,000 feet more, differs from all its congeners of Northern India in 
its epiphytal mode of growth,’ its sweet-scented flowers, slender habit, whorled branches, and in the length of time 
during which it continues in.bloom. It is much the largest-flowered species with which I am acquainted, and has more 
membranous leaves than any of the others. With all these striking anomalies, it does not, however, present one 
character of calyx, corolla, stamens, or pistil, entitling it to separation from the genus. In possessing a large foliaccous 
1 Jn Sikkim, Vaccinium offers : parallel case. The 7”. serpens (?), an epiphyte on very large trees, inhabits a much lower level and 
ranges through many more feet in elevation than any of its congeners. [In Borneo it will be remembered that Mr. Low discovered epiphytal 
Rhododendrons ; and Mr. William Lobb, several in Java. Ep.] 
