RHODODENDRON GIBSONIL 
(mr. Gibson's rose bay.) 
class. order. 
DECANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
NATURAL ORDER. 
ERICACE^. 
Generic Character. — Calyx five-parted. Corolla somewhat funnel-shaped or campanuhite ; rarely 
rotate or five-parted ; limb five-cleft, somewhat bilabiate ; upper lip the broadest, and usually spotted. 
Stamens five to ten, usually exserted, decliuate ; anthers opening by two terminal pores. Capsule 
five-celled, five-valved, rarely ten-celled and ten-valved, with a septicidal dehiscence at the apex. 
Placentas simple, angular. Seeds compxesied, winged. Don^s Gard, and Botany. 
Specific Character. — Plant shrubby. Stem, branching, and growing nearly erect, with bark of a rust}'- 
brown colour, the outer coating of which peels off the old wood, and leaves a smooth ash-coloured 
bark beneath. Petioles ciliated on the edges, and covered with brown spots like the leaves and 
young wood. Leaves alternatCj ovate-lanceolate, ending in a hard brown point, incurved, ciliated 
with long brownish deflexed hairs, punctate, rather silvery and free from hairs on the under side, 
slightly hairy and mottled with raised brown spots above; young leaves tinged with purple, particularly 
on the margin. Flowers large, whitish, tinted with pink, and spotted with yellowish brown on the 
lower part of the top segment. 
Plants of this extremely beautiful species were introduced in 1837 to tlie 
gardens of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth, by Mr. J. 
Gibson, who found it on the summit of the Khoseea Hills, in the East Indies, at an 
elevation of upwards of four thousand feet above the sea. Being a plant of un- 
questionable merit, we have selected it to commemorate the services of the individual 
by whom it was collected. 
It has been so well depicted by our artist in the annexed drawing, that any 
remarks on its beauty are rendered unnecessary. What, however, gives it a very 
high claim to distinction, is the peculiar fragrance of its blossoms during the whole 
of the time they are expanded, and the very agreeable nature of this odour. In 
this respect it is a most valuable addition to the genus, and will furnish an admirable 
opportunity for improving some of the dark-flowered varieties. 
The habit and foliage of the plant are quite novel among Rhododendrons, and 
approximate much more nearly to those of some Azaleas. This v^ill especially be 
VOL. VIII.—NO. xciv. P F 
