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Rhododendron adenogynum Diels

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron adenogynum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-adenogynum/). Accessed 2024-12-03.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Rhododendron adenophorum Balf.f. & W.W. Sm.

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.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glandular
Bearing glands.
indumentum
A covering of hairs or scales.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron adenogynum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-adenogynum/). Accessed 2024-12-03.

Rhododendron adenogynum

Rhododendron adenogynum 'Kirsty'. Image Rod White.

Shrub or small tree, (0.5–)1.3–4m. Leaves 6–11 × 2–4cm, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, apex acute, lower surface usually with a dense spongy to matted (rarely sparse), one-layered tomentum that is composed of ramiform and at least some gland-tipped hairs, and is yellowish at first, maturing to a rich olive brown; petioles glabrescent or tomentose, with at least some stalked glands. Flowers 4–12, generally in a dense truss; calyx (4–)8–15mm, lobes oblong; corolla white flushed pink or pale pink, sometimes with purple flecks, campanulate, nectar pouches lacking, 30–45mm; ovary densely stalked-glandular, style usually glandular in the lower third. Flowering April-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  China SE Tibet, W Yunnan, SW Sichuan

Habitat 3,000–4,250 m

Awards AM 1976 (R.N.S. Clarke, Borde Hill, Sussex) to R. adenophorum 'Kirsty'; flowers white, lip and reverse suffused red-purple and spotted.

Conservation status Not evaluated (NE)

Taxonomic note Including R. adenophorum Balf.f. & W.W.Sm. There is a complete range of intermediates between those plants with a more strongly glandular leaf indumentum, that have been called R. adenophorum, and those that essentially lack glands, as in R. adenogynum. The two are therefore not maintained as separate species. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

An evergreen shrub said to grow 9 ft high in the wild, with the stout young shoots woolly at first, becoming glabrous. Leaves with decurved margins, oblong inclined to ovate, pointed, tapered, or rounded at the base, 2 to 6 in. long, 3⁄4 to 13⁄4 in. wide, dark green, finely wrinkled, and at maturity glabrous above, covered beneath with a tawny, suede-like felt; stalk without glands, 1⁄2 to 11⁄4 in. long. Flowers opening in April and May in trusses of six to twelve, fragrant. Calyx-lobes five, oval, 3⁄16 to 3⁄8 in. long, very glandular; flower-stalk up to 11⁄4 in. long, glandular. Corolla white, tinged with pink or rose-magenta, spotted with crimson, bell-shaped, 11⁄2 to 21⁄2 in. long, 2 to 3 in. wide, the five lobes rounded. Stamens ten, 1⁄2 to 11⁄4 in. long, stalks white, downy at the base. Ovary glandular but not downy; style 11⁄3 in. long, very glandular towards the base. Bot. Mag., t. 9253. (s. Taliense ss. Adenogynum)

R. adenogynum was discovered by Forrest in 1906 in N. W. Yunnan, on the eastern flank of the Lichiang range, at altitudes of 11,000 to 12,000 ft and introduced by him four years later. As he originally found it, it was scattered in small clumps over grassy mountain slopes, and occurs in similar situations on the neighbouring Chungtien plateau and in bordering parts of S.W. Szechwan. Although one of the more decorative of the Taliense series, and flowering when quite young, it is rarely seen outside specialist collections. It is quite hardy.

Rhododendron adenogynum

Rhododendron adenogynum R 59636 (11471) 'Kirsty'. Image John McQuire.

Rhododendron adenogynum

Rhododendron adenogynum Yu 14955 (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, April 1984). Image John McQuire.

Rhododendron adenogynum

Expanding foliage of Rhododendron adenogynum. Image John McQuire.

Rhododendron adenogynum

Rhododendron adenogynum from Knightshayes, growing at Deer Dell. Image John McQuire.

Rhododendron adenogynum

Rhododendron adenogynum grown at the Valley Gardens as R. adenophorum F 16806 (March 1988). Image John McQuire.

R adenophorum Balf. f. & W. W. Sm

Closely allied to the preceding, but with the leaves slightly glandular above when young, and with small glands beneath concealed by the indumentum. The petiole, too, is glandular as well as tomentose. Introduced by Forrest in 1913 from N.W. Yunnan. Flowers similar to those of R. adenogynum, borne in April.

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