47. Rhododendron thomsonii J.D. Hooker ERICACEAE

Dr. Thomson’s Rhododendron

A native of the eastern Himalaya, this is one of the many species of rhododendron discovered by Joseph Hooker in Sikkim. It was named by him after ‘Dr Thomas Thomson … 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’. Thomson (1817–1878) went on to become Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden and, with Hooker, was joint-author of the Flora Indica of which only one volume was published.

Hand coloured lithograph of Rhododendron thomsonii by W.H. Fitch, after watercolour by J.D. Hooker, from Hooker’s The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya (1849)