Rhododendron camelliiflorum Hook. f.

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Credits

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

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

Genus

Synonyms

  • Rhododendron sparsiflorum Nutt.
  • Rhododendron cooperi Balf. f.

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.
glaucous
Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
lanceolate
Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
stigma
(in a flower) The part of the carpel that receives pollen and on which it germinates. May be at the tip of a short or long style or may be reduced to a stigmatic surface at the apex of the ovary.
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 camelliiflorum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-camelliiflorum/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Shrub, often epiphytic, to 2 m; young shoots scaly. Leaves (5.3–)6–0–10.5 × (1.6–)2–3(–3.7) cm, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic, apex bluntly acute, lower surface densely covered with almost touching broadly rimmed brown scales, a few of which are darker than the rest. Pedicels densely scaly. Flowers 1–2 per inflorescence; calyx lobes 5–8 mm, oblong; corolla white to deep rose, open-campanulate, 14–18(–20) mm, scaly outside, villose within; stamens 11–16; ovary with 5–10 cells, scaly, tapering into the short sharply deflexed style. Flowering May-June. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  BhutanIndia Sikkim Nepal

Habitat 2,750–3,650 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H5

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note This species, the only member of its subsection, is distantly allied to species in Subsect. Boothia but is clearly distinct in its 12–16 stamens and multi-celled ovary, characters that suggest an affinity with Subsect. Maddenia. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

An evergreen shrub up to 6 ft high, of sparse straggling habit, often growing wild on the trunks and forks of trees; young shoots very scaly. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, pointed, 212 to 4 in. long, 34 to 112 in. wide, dark green above; almost covered with brown glistening scales beneath, between which, however, the glaucous surface of the leaf is visible; stalk 14 to 38 in. long. Flowers produced in July, usually in pairs. Corolla 112 in. wide, white tinged with rose, the base broadly bell-shaped; lobes five, rounded, overlapping, scaly outside. Stamens twelve to sixteen, downy towards but not at the broadened base. Ovary scaly; style 58 in. long, with a broad thick stigma; glabrous except for a few scales near the ovary. Calyx 14 in. long, scaly at the base, the lobes deep, oval, rounded at the end. Flower-stalk 14 in. long. Bot. Mag., t. 4932. (s. Camelliiflorum)

Native of the Himalaya from E. Nepal to Bhutan, to 10,000 ft altitude. It was discovered in Sikkim by J. D. Hooker and introduced in 1851 to Kew. It is quite uncommon, which is no matter for great regret, for it is one of the least ornamental and most difficult of rhododendrons.