Tal. XII.
13.
RHODODENDRON THOMSONI, s o o i.fi.
Dr. Thomsons Bhododendron.
T a b . XII.
I jFrutex ramosissinras, cortice paHide papjraceo, folus in ramos temifflles osisceis glabemmis orhiculnri-ovafc oblnsissimis npicnlnlis basi
conlntis lsete vicnUbussnblus gbiiiccsccnlibus msigme snireouiTO, petiole gracili, W * * * jM M * pedimculis l™gMnc
potdolomm, iioribns m.lintim patcntibus ccmnisvc, caiycc ampin cybndrncco-cjaUiiforim lobis ereofis
oblnsissimis, corolla intense sangninca coriaceo-camosn nittia, tabu dongalo^ampimnlitoniii, lirnbi lobis 5 patonU-anbuHmo-ia
profnndc eimrginnlis snparioribm into mnculatis, sbnninibus 10, Sbbstriimi 6-10-loanlnri, slylo gnieili,
stigmate conico, capsnla calyce cylindraceo persistente | tecta.
Hab. SikMm-Himalayaj inner and outer ranges; eiev. 11-18,000 feet; abundant. FI. June. Fr. November.
A bush six to ten feet higb, or in damp woods fifteen feet, but then spare, and woody. Lower branches stout,
a foot in diameter ; upper slender, leafy at the extremities. Leaves two to three inches long, very broad, generally
orbicular-ovate, but sometimes almost exactly orbicular, much resembling those of B. campylocarpvm, Hook, fil., only
that in the latter the petioles are often glandular, here never; the texture of the leaves is coriaceous, but not very thick,
the apex very blunt, tipped with a, short mucro, the base subcordate, the colour pale green, below subglaucous, everywhere
quite glabrous. Flowers in a corymb of six to eight together from the apices of short branches among the leaves, on
peduncles an inch or more .long, which radiate, as it were, from a centre, spreading horizontally or curving downwards.
Galya! large, between cylindrical and hemispherical, or deep cup-shaped, coloured red in the upper half, green below,
the base intruse for the reception of the peduncle, three-quarters of an inch long and as much wide, the mouth almost
truncate but obscurely lobed. Corolla remarkable for the almost unrivalled deep blood-red colour and glossy surface of
its flowers, yielding only to B. fulgens, Hook, fil.,—deeper coloured than that of B. arboreum ■. the tube elongated,
often vertically compressed, two inches long ; the limb large, much spreading, five-lobed, the lobes cmarginate, upper
ones spotted. Stamens a little longer than the tube -. filaments glabrous, white; anthers rather large, deep brown. Ovary
conico-cylindrical, glabrous, furrowed, six- to eight-celled. Capsule rather short, straight, glaucous purple, about three-
quarters of its length immersed in the persistent calyx.
The whole is perfectly inodorous. Much honey is secreted in the base of the corolla; which has the character of
not being poisonous, like what is yielded by B. Dalhousite and B. argentemi. The two latter species are said to render
wild honey, collected in spring (their flowering season), deleterious.
To this species I give the name of Dr. Thomas Thomson, surgeon, H. E. 1 .0. S., late of the Thibetian Mission,
T ab. XII. Rhododendron Thomoni. Pig. 1. Stamen. 8. Pistil. 3. Transverse section of ovary -.-^magnified.
son of the learned Professor of Chemistry of Glasgow University, my earliest friend and companion during my College
life, and now my valued travelling companion in Eastern Himalaya.