Rhododendron bureavii Franch.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron bureavii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-bureavii/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Rhododendron cruentum H.Lev.

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.
campanulate
Bell-shaped.
ciliate
Fringed with long hairs.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glandular
Bearing glands.
hybrid
Plant originating from the cross-fertilisation of genetically distinct individuals (e.g. two species or two subspecies).
included
(botanical) Contained within another part or organ.
obtuse
Blunt.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
petiole
Leaf stalk.
rachis
Central axis of an inflorescence cone or pinnate leaf.
rugose
Wrinkled.
section
(sect.) Subdivision of a genus.
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 bureavii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-bureavii/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Shrub, 1–3(–6) m. Leaves 4.5–12 × 2–7 cm, elliptic, apex acuminate, upper surface of leaves often with a thin covering of rusty red hairs, lower surface covered with a dense lanate tomentum composed of ramiform hairs that are salmon-pink when young but soon becoming deep rusty red; petioles densely pilose and glandular. Flowers 10–20, in a dense truss; calyx 5–10 mm, lobes sometimes fleshy; corolla white flushed pink to pink, sometimes with purple flecks, tubular-campanulate, 25–40 mm; ovary densely stalked-glandular, sometimes also tomentose, style usually glandular, at least near the base. Flowering April-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

Distribution  China N Yunnan

Habitat 3,350–4,250 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H7

Awards AM 1939 (L. de Rothschild, Exbury); flowers at first flushed rose, fading to white, with crimson spots. AM 1972 (Royal Botanic Gardens Wakehurst) as a foliage plant. AM 1988 (PA. Cox, Glendoick) to a clone 'Ardrishaig'; trusses 10-11-flowered, corolla white, upper throat densely spotted, sometimes flushed red-purple.

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note (incl. R. cruentum H.Lev.) A distinctive species on account of its attractive foliage. It resembles R. nigroglandulosum and R. bureavioides (see under those species for the differences). It is also allied to R. elegantulum, from which it may be distinguished by its broader leaves. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

An evergreen shrub or small tree, as much as 20 ft high in the wild; branchlets stout, with the same coating as on the undersides of the leaves, which are leathery, broad-elliptic to ovate, 3 to 5 in. long, 1 to 2 in. wide, dark green, slightly rugose, soon glabrous above, the undersides (and also the shoots and petioles) coated with a bright rusty red wool intermixed with glands; petiole stout, about 34 in. long. Flowers in trusses of ten to fifteen, borne in April or May; pedicels about 34 in. long, densely woolly; rachis very short. Calyx deeply divided into five obtuse, ciliate lobes. Corolla funnel-campanulate, about 134 in. long, white or rose, usually with crimson markings. Ovary densely clad with bright brown hairs intermixed with glands; style hairy and glandular at the base. (s. Taliense ss. Adenogynum)

Native of N.W. Yunnan, where it forms thickets above the coniferous forests; discovered by Père Delavay in 1896 near Lankiung, north of Tali. Forrest sent seeds in 1904. His next sending was in 1918, from the Sungkwei pass (F.15609).

Although the flowers are unremarkable R. bureavii is worth growing for its handsome foliage, if the true species can be obtained. It is perfectly hardy, but is slow-growing and usually seen as a dense shrub 6 to 8 ft high. It received an Award of Merit when shown from Exbury in 1939.

R. bureavioides Balf. f., described from specimens collected by Wilson in W. Szechwan, is probably not specifically distinct from R. bureavii. He sent seeds to Messrs Veitch in 1904.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

† R. elegantulum Tagg & Forr. – Very near to R. bureaui, differing, according to the original description, in the narrower leaves less loosely woolly beneath and the glandular but not tomentose ovary. Described from specimens collected in the mountains near Yungning in south-western Szechwan. The origin of the cultivated plants is uncertain. Possibly a natural hybrid between R. bureaui and R. adenogynum (Rev. 2., p. 340).

As anticipated, R. bureauioides is now included in R. bureaui.

For the incorrectness (since 1983) of the spelling ‘bureavii’ see the section on Orthography in the Introduction to this supplement and ICBN (1983), Articles 73.7 and 73.10.