Rhododendron anthosphaerum - Trees and Shrubs Online

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.

acute

Sharply pointed.

apex

(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.

campanulate

Bell-shaped.

glabrous

Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.

glandular

Bearing glands.

lanceolate

Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.

oblanceolate

Inversely lanceolate; broadest towards apex.

obtuse

Blunt.

style

Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.

Rhododendron anthosphaerum SBEC 163 (Ray Wood, Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, March 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

Shrub or small tree, 3–12 m. Leaves 6–16 × 2–4.5 cm, elliptic-oblong to oblong, apex acute to acuminate, lower surface glabrous though with a few red punctate hairs overlying the veins. Flowers 6–7-lobed, 10–15, in a dense truss, rose-magenta to crimson or magenta-blue to pale peach, sometimes with purple flecks and/or a basal blotch, tubular-campanulate, with nectar pouches, 30–45 mm; ovary usually glabrous, style glabrous. Flowering March-April. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution Myanmar NE China SE Tibet, Yunnan

Habitat 2,700–4,000 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H3

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note This species differs from all others in the subsection in its 6–7-lobed corollas. The flower colour is particularly variable. R. eritimum is said to differ in its rounded, not acute leaf apex. There is however, gradation from one form to the other, making this an unreliable diagnostic character. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

An evergreen shrub or a small tree up to 30 ft high. Leaves oblong, oblong- lanceolate, or oblong-oblanceolate, 4 to 6 in. long, 7⁄8 to 17⁄8 in. wide, acute to obtuse at the apex, glabrous. Flowers in terminal trusses of ten to fifteen, borne early in spring, sometimes in February; pedicels 3⁄8 to 5⁄8 in. long, floccose and sometimes glandular also. Calyx minute, usually glabrous, but sometimes with the same covering as the pedicels. Corolla five- to seven-lobed, tubular-campanulate, 11⁄2 to 3 in. long, commonly crimson, rose-magenta or blue-magenta, with darker nectar-pouches at the base and sometimes spotted inside, occasionally white or, in the type of R. persicinum, peach-coloured. Stamens ten to fourteen, downy near the base or glabrous. Ovary glabrous or slightly hairy; style glabrous. Bot. Mag., t. 9083. (s. and ss. Irroratum)

Native of N.W. Yunnan and bordering parts of upper Burma; discovered by Forrest below the Sungkwei pass in 1906 and introduced by him. Although hardy in a sheltered position south of London, its flowers are of little beauty and both they and the young growths are often destroyed by frost.

Rhododendron anthosphaerum SBEC 163 (Ray Wood, Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, March 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

Rhododendron anthosphaerum CNW 624 (collected as R. eritimum) at Deer Dell, Surrey, UK. Image John McQuire.

An exquisite smokey purple form of Rhododendron anthosphaerum, originally raised at Borde Hill. Formerly recognised as R. gymnogynum, this taxon is now sunk into R. anthosphaerum. Photographed at Sarum, Surrey, UK. Image John McQuire.

Rhododendron anthosphaerum CNW 357 at Deer Dell, Surrey, UK. Image John McQuire.

Rhododendron anthosphaerum KW 5458 at the Valley Gardens, Windsor, UK. Image John McQuire.

Rhododendron anthosphaerum CNW 624 (collected as R. eritimum) flowering at Deer Dell, Surrey, UK. Image John McQuire.

A very good red Rhododendron anthosphaerum from Wakehurst Place, Sussex, UK (where it grew in the area known as The Ring), formerly treated as R. eritimum. Image John McQuire.

A red form of Rhododendron anthosphaerum from SBEC 163 at the Valley Gardens, Windsor, UK. Image John McQuire.

A red form of Rhododendron anthosphaerum from SBEC 484 at the Valley Gardens, Windsor, UK. Image John McQuire.

A good pink Rhododendron anthosphaerum from Perriard's introduction of the species, collected near Lidiping, China at 3250 m. Photographed at Deer Dell, Surrey, UK, where plants from this same collection grow in a variety of colours, representing its variability. Image John McQuire.

Another good pink form of Rhododendron anthosphaerum in flower at Sarum, Surrey, UK. Image John McQuire.

Young foliage and distinctly dark stems on Rhododendron anthosphaerum at Deer Dell, Surrey, UK. Image John McQuire.

A white form of Rhododendron anthosphaerum at Wakehurst Place, West Sussex; 6th April 2015. Image Owen Johnson.

A lovely pink form of Rhododendron anthosphaerum raised from Forrest 5848. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (19230098*D). 1 April 2023. Image Tom Christian.

Rhododendron anthosphaerum Diels

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