A large shrub or a small tree, ultimately over 30 ft high, with stiff, very thick, somewhat sparse branches, woolly when young. Leaves oval or oblong, 6 to 12 in. long, 21⁄2 to 6 in. wide (sometimes larger), very stout, thick, and strongly veined, the upper surface dark green, curiously wrinkled, but otherwise smooth; the lower surface covered with a dense, rust-coloured felt; stalk 1 to 2 in. long. Flowers about 2 in. across, creamy white or pale yellow, sometimes shaded with lilac, and marked with a conspicuous dark purple blotch at the base, fragrant, produced in spring in large terminal clusters 6 to 9 in. across; the twenty or more flowers tightly packed. Corolla bell-shaped, 2 in. long, its lobes varying in number from eight to ten; calyx scarcely observable; stamens twelve to sixteen, shorter than the corolla; style about as long as the corolla, stout, and surmounted by the large knob-like stigma; flower-stalk downy, 1 in. long. Bot. Mag., t. 4924. (s. Falconeri)
Native of the Himalaya from Nepal to Bhutan. It was described by J. D. Hooker in 1849, and it was he who introduced it effectively, though at the time that he sent seeds (1850) it was already in cultivation in a few gardens, raised from seeds sent by Col. Sykes in 1830.
R. falconeri is one of the noblest of the genus. A moisture-loving species, it thrives best in the western and northern parts of the British Isles, where all the finest specimens are to be found. But it is really quite hardy and grows well near London in high-lying places with a rainfall of 30 in. or over. At Glenarn, Rhu, Dunbartonshire, there is a remarkable specimen probably raised from the seeds sent by Hooker. It is about 30 ft high and girthed 61⁄4 ft at ground-level in 1950 (R.Y.B. 1950, fig. 46; R.C.Y.B. 1964, fig. 1; New Fl. & Sylv., Vol. 6 (1933), fig. xvi).
Other notable specimens are: Stonefield, Argyll, from the Hooker introduction, 28 ft high and as much in spread, trunk almost 4 ft in girth at 1 ft (R.C.Y.B. 1956, p. 18 and fig. 9); Muncaster Castle, Cumberland, pl. 1920 when 10 ft high, c. 35 ft high and as much wide (R.C.Y.B. 1953, p. 61); Minterne, Dorset, pl. 1893, over 30 ft high (ibid., p. 10 and fig. 1); Trengwainton, Cornwall,pl. 1897, 35 ft high, 50 ft across, on several trunks (R.C.Y.B. 1953, p. 61).
R. eximium Nutt. R. falconeri var. eximium (Nutt.) Hook. f. – Allied to R. falconeri, differing in the brown, mealy tomentum that covers the upper surface of the leaves during their first season or even for longer, and in the rose-coloured or pinkish flowers. It was introduced by Thomas Booth by means of seeds which he collected on an outer range of the Assam Himalaya, N.W. of Tezpur, on December 17, 1849. Bot. Mag., t. 7317.
A plant at Stonefield, Argyll, believed to be from the original introduction, was 16 ft high and 33 ft in breadth in 1955 (R.C.Y.B. 1956, p. 18).