Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, son of Sir William Hooker, the director of the Kew
Gardens, was a great botanical explorer. He utilized the artistry of Walter Hood
Fitch, who worked for both Hookers, to adapt lithographs to the botanical drawings
of Indian artists Hookers' first work "Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya" came
about after his explorations of the Eastern Himalayas According to W. Blunt the
book was "an important work, both for the botanist and horticulturalist, since it contains
descriptions and plates of many of the best garden Rhododendron species which
can be grown in country and an account of their discovery."
