'rhododendromania'

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) is recognised as the most important botanist of the19thand one of the key scientists of his age.    A close friend of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Joseph Hooker was an extraordinary man - a prolific author, the second director of the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew (today a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and he instigated "rhododendromania".




Rhododendron arboreum

From late 1848 Joseph Hooker spent three and a half exhausting years in India exploring some of the most inaccessible terrain in the world.    He arrived home to rapturous welcome on 26th March 1851.

The first expedition arrived back in Darjeeling on 2nd January 1849 with a collection so great that it took him six weeks to arrange a catalogue and pack the "80 coolie loads" of specimens that were to be sent back to Kew.

The second exhibition took Hooker to the Chola and Yakia Passes in eastern Sikkim, a wild, mountainous and inhospitable country squeezed between Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan.  The path up the Chola Pass at 4500 metres (14,925 feet) above sea level produced a bounty of rhododendron seed - 24 species including Rhododendron arboreum.   In clefts at 3000 metres (10,000 feet) he discovered Meconopsis villosa - a beautiful yellow poppy like plant.  

Rhododendron aboreum was Joseph Hooker's most spectacular discovery in Sikkim.   A native of east Nepal, North Bengal as well as Sikkim, Rhododendron arboreum grows in open forest and on rocky hillsides at 2750 metres to 3650 metres.    The evergreen shrub like tree grows to 50 metres in height and flowers from March to May.

The Genus Rhododendron comes from the Greek rhodos 'red' and dendron 'tree'.    Red varieties dominated in early times.

Rhododendrons are grown for their spectacular flowers, mostly borne in spring.   Some also have young leaves and stems covered in a striking dense woolly covering (indumentum) and  some deciduous rhododendrons have good Autumn colour


Hybridisers soon realised that by crossing Rhododendron arboreum with other species (such as the stunning R.thomsonii and R.griffithlianum 'auklandii' ) would produce a multitude of colours on tree like plants.

The species griffithianum named after William Griffith (1810-1845), the first serious botanical collector in Bhutan from 1837-38, are the most important in terms of hybridising.    The species thomsonii is named after Dr. Thomas Thomson (1817-1978) who collected in the North West Himalayas and Tibet.   Today colours vary from pure white to blood red.

All forms of Rhododendron arboreum are represented in the estate of Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass.    Situated  on the west coast of Cumbria, the moist, acid soil provides ideal growing conditions.    The species grow in  part shade and are Hardy to minus 10 degrees Centigrade.

Home to the Pennington family for over 800 years, Muncaster Castle is a treasury of art and history that sits majestically in wild, woodland gardens with superb views of the Lake District.


Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass


Rhododendrons were first planted in the grounds of Muncaster Castle around 1840.   They still exist and astonish visitors every year.   

Sir John Ramsden (1877-1958) inherited Muncaster in 1917 and soon realised the the gardens provided one of the best sites in the Great Britain for what was to become a flood of new species.    Together, with the banker and politician, Lionel de Rothschild (1808-1879), John Ramsden helped finance expeditions to South West China and to Tibet. 

Examples of many the great plant hunters discoveries can be found at Muncaster.   In return  for part financing the trips, Sir John Ramsden received a good deal of seed.   This enabled the planting of many, new to cultivation, rhododendron species throughout the estate and gardens.

A dramatic terrace with a broad strip of close-mown grass gives wonderful views of the River Esk and the fells beyond.    Approximately one third of the way along the terrace is a restored rustic summer house very much in keeping with the Arts and Crafts philosophy of being both useful and beautiful.



Exploring Muncaster's 77 acres presents a fantastic opportunity to see a great number of rare plants and rhododendrons without having to mount a Himalayan style expedition.    



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