Rhododendron arboreum 
Native of the Himalayan Region. 
Nat. Order: Ericacea. Tribe : RHopoREA. 
Rhododendron arboreum, Smith, ‘‘ Exot. FI.” t. 9; Bot. Reg. t. 890 
(1825); Bot. Mag. t. 3290, var. album (1834). 
Was introduced into this country by Dr. Wallich in 1827. 
Captain Hardwicke, who first discovered it in the Sewalik 
mountains in India in 1796, says: “It has the most extended 
range of any of its species, and grows at elevations of from 
three to twelve thousand feet. It has rich scarlet flowers, and 
leaves more than a foot in length and silvery underneath.” 
He gives the height of the tree as twenty feet, while the stem 
is sometimes as much as sixteen feet in girth at five feet from 
the ground. The plant figured is a fine specimen, being 
thirty feet high and one hundred and thirty feet in circum- 
ference. It is ina sheltered position, and in good light soil 
on a moist bottom. How suitable this is for rhododendrons 
may be inferred from the dimensions of a R. ponticum which 
grew near this one and had a height of twenty-three feet, with 
a circumference of four hundred and forty-seven feet! It 
grew so rapidly that it seemed as if it would take possession 
of the whole garden, and it had to be cut down. It was said 
to be the largest plant of the species in the Kingdom. 
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