| | |probably the finest species
| | |of Rhododendron in
| | |existence, and named in
| | |honour of Lord Auckland, a
| | |Governor-General of India,
| | |by Sir Joseph Hooker. It
| | |appears, however, to have
| | |previously been named after
| | |Griffith, the Indian
| | |botanist, whose name it
| | |ought now properly to bear.
| | |It carries its flowers in
| | |large, loose trusses, and
| | |individually they are
| | |frequently 6 inches across.
| | |This Rhododendron, we
| | |believe, ranks first in the
| | |genus in regard to the size
| | |of its bloom. Six or eight
| | |of these are borne in a
| | |truss, and they are pure
| | |white when once fully
| | |expanded, although pink in
| | |the bud state. The handsome
| | |leaves are smooth,
| | |narrow-oblong, 6 inches to
| | |12 inches long, and of a
| | |deep lustrous green. When
| | |fully grown this becomes a
| | |small tree, the bark
| | |peeling from the trunk in
| | |large flakes. It is not,
| | |unfortunately, one of the
| | |Himalayan species