INDIAN RHODODENDRONS 17 
constant companion throughout every day's march : on 
the right hand and on the left of the devious paths the old 
trees and bushes are seen breast-high or branching over- 
head, whilst the seedlings cover every mossy bank. At 
13,000 feet the flanks of the snowy mountains glow with 
the blood-red blossoms of R. fulgenSy whilst the beauty of 
R, campanulatum and the great elegance and delicacy of 
the yellow bells of R. campy locarpiim excite the more 
admiration from their being found in such regions of 
fog and rain. Yet with all these advantages of position 
and that of an intimate knowledge of the species, I was 
constantly at a loss to distinguish to which species the 
seedling plants belonged, especially when they grew inter- 
mixed, or to recognise others when distant from their 
parents." 
The Rhododendrons are most abundant in the Raja 
independent State of Sikkim, and they increase in number 
in advancing northward from Darjeeling to the snows. 
Darjeeling is situated at an elevation of 7200 feet, and its 
mean temperature is 55°. It is never so hot in summer 
nor so cold in winter as it becomes in London. We know 
that Sikkim Rhododendrons are happiest in those parts of 
England which are in close proximity to the sea — for ex- 
ample, South Cornwall, South Wales, South-West Ireland, 
and the West of Scotland. 
A well-marked section of the genus, Vireya, charac- 
terised by thin valved capsules and long-tailed seeds, inhabits 
chiefly the high mountain forests of the Malay Peninsula 
and Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Something like 
sixty species have been found there, only about half-a- 
dozen of which have been brought into cultivation, namely, 
R. Teysmannii, R, jasminiflorum, R, javanicum, R. Lobbii, 
B 
