Rhododendron intricatum Franch.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron intricatum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-intricatum/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Rhododendron blepharocalyx Franch.
  • Rhododendron peramabile Hutch.

Infraspecifics

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.
bud
Immature shoot protected by scales that develops into leaves and/or flowers.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
included
(botanical) Contained within another part or organ.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.
synonym
(syn.) (botanical) An alternative or former name for a taxon usually considered to be invalid (often given in brackets). Synonyms arise when a taxon has been described more than once (the prior name usually being the one accepted as correct) or if an article of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has been contravened requiring the publishing of a new name. Developments in taxonomic thought may be reflected in an increasing list of synonyms as generic or specific concepts change over time.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron intricatum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-intricatum/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Compact shrub, to 1.5 m. Leaves (0.4–)0.6–1.4 × 0.3–0.8 cm, oblong or elliptic to rotund, apex rounded, usually mucronate, lower surface covered with uniformly buff to straw-coloured touching or overlapping scales. Flowers (1–)2–6(–8) per inflorescence; calyx 0.5–2 mm; corolla pale lavender to dark blue, rarely yellowish, hypocrateriform, 8–12(–14) mm; stamens 10, included within tube; ovary scaly, style short, glabrous. Flowering March-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  China N Yunnan, W Sichuan

Habitat 2,800–4,900 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Awards FCC 1907 (Messrs J. Veitch, Chelsea); flowers rosy lilac.

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note The short stamens included within the corolla tube characterize this distinctive species. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

A dwarf evergreen shrub usually 6 to 12 in. high, perhaps ultimately 18 in.; young shoots scurfy, with reddish scales. Leaves roundish ovate, 14 to 12 in. long, half or more than half as wide, dark green above, pale beneath, both surfaces covered with glistening scales; leaf-stalk distinctly formed, but only 112 in. long. Flowers in terminal trusses of frequently five or six; each flower 58 in. across, violet-purple in the bud state, becoming paler and lilac-coloured after opening. Calyx-lobes five, short, triangular. Corolla with a short tube and five rounded, spreading lobes. Stamens ten, almost entirely included within the corolla-tube, downy at the base. Style shorter than stamens. Bot. Mag., t. 8163. (s. Lapponicum)

R. intricatum was discovered by the Abbé Soulié in W. Szechwan in 1895, some way to the west of Kangting (Tatsien-lu), and was introduced by Wilson in 1904 when collecting for Messrs Veitch. Only three years later, in April 1907, that firm exhibited seedlings a few inches high but full of flower, and the species was straightway awarded a First Class Certificate (but under the erroneous name R. nigropunctatum). It was later reintroduced from the Muli area of S.W. Szechwan by Forrest and by Kingdon Ward.

This rhododendron makes a neat little bush of rounded form suggesting a pygmy tree, and it flowers when only a few inches high; this, together with the colour of the flowers and the profusion in which they are borne, render it a singularly attractive little plant for the rock garden or some such place, where tiny, slow-growing plants are not in danger of being smothered by stronger ones. Coming from high Alpine regions, it is quite hardy.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

R. peramabile, mentioned here, becomes a synonym of R. intricatum.

† R. complexum Balf.f. & W.W. Sm. – This species could be confused with R. intricatum, which it resembles in its narrow corolla with the stamens, and usually the style, included in the tube. It differs in the rust-coloured scales on the undersides of the leaves (pale in R. intricatum) and in having usually only six to eight stamens. A native of north-west Yunnan, introduced by Forrest (F.15392), but rare in cultivation.


R peramabile Hutch

In describing this species, Dr Hutchinson remarked that it could be no more than a ‘luxurious state’ of R. intricatum. The type is a cultivated plant, raised from Forrest 20463, the field-specimen corres­ponding to which is R. yungningense. It grows up to 2{1/2} ft high and has leaves {1/2} to almost 1 in. long.