732 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



coriaceous, glabrous, often pilose beneath when young, petiole 

 i-Jin. Racemes axillary, simple, rarely falsely panicled by the 

 suppression of leaves towards the ends of the branches (C. B. 

 Clarke), more or less pubescent. Pedicels i-fin. long. Bracts Jin., 

 lanceolate or linear, deciduous. Flowers white ; " sometimes 

 pink or bluish," says Brandis. Calyx-lobes 5, triangular lanceo- 

 late, jViin., connate at the base. Corolla f-f in. or J-§ in. long, 

 elongate ovoid, pubescent without ; lobes 5, short, recurved. 

 Stamens 10, hypogynous ; filaments subulate, ciliate, with two 

 filiform appendages, called " horns," at the apex ; anthers open 

 by terminal pores. Ovary 5-celled, ovules many in each cell. 

 Capsule Jin. diam., globose, loculicidally 5-valved ; seeds many, 

 minute, linear-oblong (Kanjilal). 



Use : — The young leaves and buds are poisonous to goats, 

 they are used to kill insects, and an infusion of them is applied 

 in cutaneous diseases (Gamble). 



706. Rhododendron arboreum, Sm. h.f.b.i. hi., 

 465. 



Syn : — R. puniceum, Roxb. 373. 



Vern. : — Ardawal, mandal, chiu, aru, bras, broa, chacheon 

 (Pb.) ; Chhan (Hazara) ; Ardawal, mandal, chiu, bras (Hima- 

 layan names) ; Trikbgandera (Trans-Indus) ; Billi, pumaram 

 (Nilghiris) ; Brus (Kumaun); Bhorans, guras, ghonas, taggu, 

 lalguras (Nepal) ; Etok (Lepcha). 



Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to Bbotan, 

 and the Khasia Mountains. 



An evergreen tree, 25ft. Bark lin. thick, reddish brown, 

 peeling off in small flakes. Wood soft, reddish-white, or 

 reddish-brown, close and even-grained, apt to warp and shrink. 

 Leaves crowded at end of branches, 4-6in. long, lanceolate or 

 elliptic-oblong, acute at both ends, coriaceous, glabrous above, 

 rusty-tomentose or covered with small silvery scales beneath. 

 Nerves and midrib prominent beneath, depressed above ; buds 

 viscous. Flowers large, very showy, commonly deeply crimson, 

 rarely pink or nearly white, in corymbose fascicles at the ends 

 of the branches. Pedicels O-to ■§■ the length of the Corolla-tube. 



