Rhododendron campanulatum D. Don

An evergreen shrub usually not more than 10 ft high in the wild; bark peeling; young shoots glabrous. Leaves oval, 3 to 51⁄2 in. long, 11⁄4 to 21⁄2 in. wide; abruptly tapering at the apex, tapering, rounded, or slightly heart-shaped at the base, glabrous above, densely covered beneath with a red-brown felt; stalk 1⁄2 to 1 in. long, often reddish. Flowers rosy purple of numerous shades, or almost white, 2 in. across, produced during April in rather loose clusters about 4 in. wide. Calyx downy, small and scarcely lobed. Corolla broadly bell-shaped, with five notched lobes, the upper ones dark purple-spotted. Stamens ten, glabrous or sometimes downy towards the base; flower-stalk about 1 in. long. Bot. Mag., t. 3759. (s. Campanulatum)

Native of the Himalaya from Kashmir to some way east of Bhutan, from 10,000 to 14,000 ft. According to Loudon, Loddiges’ nursery received seeds from Wallich in 1825, but there may have been earlier introductions to private gardens. In 1844 it was referred to as ‘one of the best hardy evergreens we have’ (Gard. Chron. (1844), p. 379). It is very variable in the colour of the flowers, which are sometimes quite pale, sometimes of a bright bluish purple, sometimes lilac or even white; in the amount of felt at the back of the leaf; and in the colour of the leaf-scales that accompany the young bursting shoots, which are sometimes rich crimson, sometimes green. At its best it is a beautiful rhododendron, though not held in much regard at the present time. In Scotland it has attained a remarkable size, e.g., 30 ft in height and 41⁄2 ft in girth at breast height at Benmore, Argyll (R.C.Y.B. 1964, p. 13; op. cit., 1968, fig. 17).

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

subsp. aeruginosum (Hook.f.) Chamberlain R. campanulatum var. aeruginosum (Hook.f.) Cowan and Davidian; R. aeruginosum Hook.f. – This has a more easterly distribution than the typical subspecies, but there is some overlap (Rev. 2. p. 373).

cv. ‘Graham Thomas’. – A seedling of great promise, raised at the Knap Hill Nursery, Surrey, with good foliage and lavender blue flowers. Registered 1985 and propagated.