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Rhododendron spinuliferum Franch.

Modern name

Rhododendron spinuliferum Franch.

Synonyms

R. duclouxii Lévl.; R. fuchsiaeflorum Lévl.; R. scabrifolium var. paucifiorum Franch.

An evergreen shrub 3 to 8 ft high, the young shoots covered with pale hairs and bristles. Leaves lanceolate or oblanceolate, pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, 112 to 214 in. long, 12 to 34 in. wide, somewhat hooded and puckered above, with a few hairs near the margin, scaly and hairy beneath; stalk 14 in. long. Flowers in clusters, terminal and from the upper leaf-axils, opening in April; pedicels downy, about 14 in. long. Calyx very short, downy. Corolla tubular, usually brick-red, about 1 in. long and 12 in. wide, the five ovate lobes being erect or pressing inwards round the ten glabrous stamens which protrude about 14 in. beyond them. Ovary and base of style downy. Bot. Mag., t. 8408. (s. Scabrifolium)

Native of Yunnan, China; discovered by Delavay, and introduced to France by Maurice de Vilmorin in 1907, thence to Kew in 1910. The fears at first expressed as to its probable tenderness have not been borne out by experience. At Kew it has proved to be quite hardy. In the tubular shape of the corolla, which narrows rather than expands towards the mouth, the species resembles R. keysii.


Rhododendron spinuliferum

Rhododendron spinuliferum

Genus

Rhododendron

Other species in the genus