Rhododendron acuminatum Hook.f.

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New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.

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'Rhododendron acuminatum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-acuminatum/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Genus

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

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New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron acuminatum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-acuminatum/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Shrub to 3 m, mostly terrestrial; young stems rough, completely covered in brown scales. Leaves 7–9 × 2.5–5 cm, ovate-acuminate to broadly elliptic-acuminate, the apex bluntly pointed, the margin entire, flat or slightly recurved, the base rounded or broadly tapering; upper surface at first densely scaly, becoming glabrous with very deeply impressed veins; lower surface with strongly raised veins, completely and persistently brown-scaly with variably sized scales, the largest of which have dark swollen centres. Flowers 12–20 hanging, half hanging or horizontal in a loose umbel; calyx a low scaly ring; corolla bright orange or red, narrowly funnel shaped, 2.5–3.1 × 1.5–2 cm, outer surface usually with sparse scales sometimes almost glabrous; stamens 10, scattered all round the mouth of the flower; ovary densely scaly, style scaly in the basal half. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  Malaysia Sabah, Mt Kinabalu

Habitat 2,800–3,400 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H1b

Conservation status Endangered (EN)

Commonly confused with R. rugosum which has totally different leaf scales and differently coloured flowers. This species has so far proved difficult to cultivate and most records of it in cultivation are attributable to R. rugosum. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)