Thomson Rhododendron               ro-do-DEN-dron tom-SON-ee-i, tom-SON-ee-ee

• Broadleaf evergreen upright, open shrub or small tree, 5 ft ( 1.5 m) in 10 years, finally to 14 ft (4.3 m) high with a greater spread, red peeling bark.  Leaves alternate, simple, 5-10 cm long, about 2/3rds as wide, orbicular or oval or elliptic, rounded at the tip, but may have a short, abrupt tip, rounded or cordate (heart-shaped) at the base, dark green above, bluish-white or glaucous green below.  Flowers about 6 cm long and wide, bell-shaped, crimson to a deep wine red, 6-12 in loose, terminal clusters; calyx conspicuous, 12-19 mm deep; 10 glabrous stamens.
• 5^oF, early-mid, 3/2-4/3-4.  [flower / plant & foliage / performance; scale 1 (poor) - 5 (best)]  Native to the Himalaya --- Nepal, India (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh), southern Tibet,and Bhutan.
• thomsonii: after Thomas Thomson (1817-1878), Scottish physician and superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden.
• Federal Way, Washington: Rhododendron Species and Botanical Garden.