Rhododendron Cultivars C

'C. B. van Nes'

Flowers 12 to 14 in a loose truss. Corolla campanulate, 23⁄8 in. wide, with broad, overlapping lobes, slightly wavy at the edge, glowing crimson-scarlet, with a few dark spots on the upper lobes. Leaves oblong-elliptic, up to 5 in. long and 13⁄4 in. wide, dull, deep green above. Compact habit. Late April or early May. A sister seedling of ‘Britannia’.

'Caerhays Philip'

Similar to Conroy (cinnabarinum var. roylei × concatenans), but in this the parent on the cinnabarinum side was var. blandfordiiflorum. The corollas are yellow, more open than in the A.M. form of Conroy, 21⁄2 in. wide. Raised at Caerhays by the Hon. Charles Williams and Charles Michael. A.M. 1966.

Calfort

A similar hybrid to ‘Avalanche’ – Calfort – was raised by Collingwood Ingram from R. calophytum crossed with R. fortunei. In the plant at Wisley the corollas are 3 3⁄4 in. wide, faintly tinged pale lilac, with a heavy maroon blotch breaking into speckles. Leaves narrowly oblong-elliptic. Calfort received an A.M. in 1932, and the same award was given in 1967 to the clone ‘Bounty’, also raised by Collingwood Ingram.

Rhododendron 'Calfort' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 2 April 2017. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Calfort' in the Savill Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 8 April 2017. Image John Anderson.

'Campfire'

Flowers hose-in-hose. Corolla bright red (53d), slightly speckled, wavy at the margin, 13⁄4 in. wide. Calyx almost as large as corolla. Late May. Low, dense habit (Gable, USA). It was sent to the Wisley trials from Holland as “Hino-scarlet” and is described under that name in R.C.Y.B. 1970, p. 195.

'Canary'

M. Koster and Sons also crossed a hybrid of R. campylocarpum with R. caucasicum, the result being ‘Canary’ (1920). According to H. J. Grootendorst, the flowers are clear yellow but the habit poor and the foliage yellowish green (Rhod. en Azal., p. 63).

'Cara Mia'

Another hybrid from ‘Crest’ is ‘Cara Mia’, raised by Edmund de Rothschild at Exbury from a cross with ‘Aurora’; A.M. May 3, 1966, R.C.Y.B. 1967, p. 163 and fig. 37.

Rhododendron 'Cara Mia' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 9 May 2008. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Cara Mia' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 9 May 2008. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Cara Mia' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 4 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

Carex (fargesii × irroratum)

Flowers about ten in a lax truss. Corolla campanulate, 7-lobed, 3 in. wide, pale lilac-pink, darker on the reverse, with some maroon spotting inside, mostly on the upper lobes. Style white, red-glandular to the tip. Calyx 1⁄4 to 3⁄8 in. wide, glandular. Leaves about 4 in. long, half as wide, broad-elliptic, rounded at both ends. A tall bush. April. A spontaneous hybrid of R. fargesii, of which the other parent was probably R. irroratum, raised at Exbury. A.M. 1932. Two other clones have been named ‘Carex White’ and ‘Carex Blush’.

Rhododendron 'Carex' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 25 April 2013. Image John Anderson.

Carita (campylocarpum × 'Naomi')

Flowers 10 or 11 in a lax truss on pedicels almost 2 in. long. Corolla pink in the bud, opening pale yellow, with greenish or brownish speckling in the throat, five-lobed. Leaves elliptic, 5 to 6 in. long, 3 in. wide. (Rothschild, 1935.) This description is from a plant at Exbury probably of the clone that received the A.M. in 1945. But the grex is variable in flower-colour, as might be expected from the parentage. In ‘Carita Inchmery’ the corollas are pink with a straw-pink centre, mostly six-lobed. In ‘Golden Dream’ they are deeper yellow than in the A.M. clone. These and others are portrayed in Rothschild Rhododendrons, pl. 7. A clone in commerce has corollas translucent white, pink-tinged, at the edges, pale primrose at the centre of the lobes (mostly six in number); buds buff-pink. The Carita grex flowers end-April or early May, and the plants grow to about 15 ft in height.

A pale pink Rhododendron Carita Group at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 9 May 2013. Image John Anderson.

Pinkish-white Rhododendron Carita Group at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 11 May 2015. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron Carita Group at Exbury, Hampshire, UK (ER 44). A yellow-flowered Edmund de Rothschild cross.11 May 2015. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Carita Inchmerry' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 19 April 2008. Image John Anderson.

Carmen (forrestii × sanguineum subsp. didymum)

Flowers three per truss. Corolla deep blood-red, campanulate, almost 11⁄2 in. wide. Leaves broad elliptic-obovate, about 13⁄4 in. long, dark green. Dwarf to 2 ft or so, more in spread. April or early May. (Rothschild, 1935.) Best planted where the sun can enliven the colour of its flowers.

'Caucasicum Pictum'

Truss dense, with about 12 flowers on erect pedicels. Corolla pink at first, later white flushed with pink, with a dense brownish-crimson flare, lobes angled, frilled. Leaves oblanceolate, about 5 in. long, reticulate above as in R. caucasicum. Late April or early May. A dense bush to about 8 ft. A hybrid of R. caucasicum, listed by Standish and Noble in 1853.

'Cecile'

Salmon-pink, darker pink in the bud, with a yellow flare (Knap Hill-Exbury). A beautiful azalea, recommended for an Award of Garden Merit.

Rhododendron 'Cecile' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 23 May 2009. Image John Anderson.

'Cetewayo'

Flowers about 12 in a small, dense truss. Corolla dark plum-coloured (Beetroot Purple), campanulate, about 2 in. wide. Stamens dark, with whitish anthers. Late May-early June. (Waterer, Knap Hill, before 1883. A.M.T. 1958.) ‘… a large bush has all the melancholy dignity of a superb prune mousse’ (J. Russell, Rhododendrons at Sunningdale, p. 42).

'Champagne'

Flowers 11 to 14 in the truss; pedicels covered with simple and stellate hairs. Corolla funnel-shaped, 31⁄4 in. wide, pale yellow at the edge, where there is a slight pink tinge, deepening to richer yellow in the throat and along the centres of the three upper lobes, which are very faintly speckled. Anthers dark crimson. Calyx cup-shaped, irregularly lobed. A.M.T. 1967.

See notes for Tortoiseshell (‘Goldsworth Orange’ × griersonianum) group

'Charlotte de Rothschild'

Belongs to the Sir Frederick Moore (discolor × St Keverne) grex and received an A.M. in 1958.

Close up on a truss of Rhododendron 'Charlotte de Rothschild' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 23 May 2013. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Charlotte de Rothschild' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 23 May 2013. Image John Anderson.

Chaste (campylocarpum × 'Queen of the May')

Flowers in a bun-shaped truss of about 12. Corolla pale yellow with crimson feathering in upper part of throat, about 31⁄4 in. wide; lobes truncate, overlapping. May. (Crosfield.) A fine but uncommon hybrid. The commercial clone is described.

'Chevalier A. de Reali'

Lemon-yellow in the bud, opening soft yellow, but the original colour retained for a time on the centre of each lobe; flare slightly darker yellow (Mollis; L. van Houtte, 1875).

'Chevalier Felix de Sauvage'

Flowers up to 20 in a dense truss. Corolla deep rosy pink with a prominent dark eye, funnel-campanulate, 21⁄4 in. across, frilled at the edge. Leaves to 5 in. long, 2 in. wide, elliptic, recurved. Dense habit, A hybrid of R. caucasicum raised on the Continent around 1870, flowering late April or early May. ‘Prince Camille de Rohan’ is similar, but the flowers are paler pink and the leaves relatively narrower, about 51⁄2 by 15⁄8 in. It was raised by Waelbrouck, secretary of the Conseil Communal of Ghent, and put into commerce by Verschaffelt in 1855. The prince admired it in his nursery, so it was named after him.

'Chikor'

Flowers up to six in a truss. Corolla with a cup-shaped limb and tubular base, 1 to 11⁄2 in. wide, soft yellow, with slight deeper spotting. Dwarf, compact habit. Late April-early May. A lovely, very free-flowering hybrid between R. chryseum and R. ludlowii, raised by E. H. M. and P. A. Cox, Glendoick. F.C.C.T. 1968.

China (fortunei × wightii)

Flowers up to 17 in a loose conical truss. Corolla creamy white with a red mark in the throat, about 3 1⁄2 in. wide. A vigorous shrub of medium size. May. (Slocock. A.M. 1940; A.M.T. 1948.) In ‘China A’, from the same cross, the flowers are more yellow and slightly smaller.

Rhododendron 'China' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 4 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

'Chink'

Flowers up to five in the truss. Corolla pale primrose, wide funnel-shaped, about 1 1⁄2 in. wide, with greenish-yellow speckling at the base of the central lobe and below the upper sinuses. Calyx small, edged with long silky hairs. Leaves elliptic, apiculate, to 1 3⁄4 in. long, edged with sparse long hairs. March. Low-growing and bushy. (keiskei × trichocladum; Crown Estate Commissioners, Windsor. A.M. 1961.)

Rhododendron 'Chink' in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 16 April 2018. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Chink' in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 16 April 2018. Image John Anderson.

'Chionoides'

Flowers about 14 in a dense truss. Corolla white from a creamy bud, with a greenish-yellow flare, funnel-shaped from a broad base, 17⁄8 in. wide. Style scarcely expanded at the apex. Late. Compact, moderate growth. (Waterer, Bagshot, before 1865.) See F. Street, Hardy Rhododendrons, p. 95, and Gard. Chron., Vol. 132 (1952), p. 205.

'Chippewa'

Corolla 21⁄2 in. wide, salmon-pink with a redder blotch on the upper lobes. Late June. Low, spreading habit (a hybrid of R. indicum; Bobbink and Atkins, USA).

Choremia (arboreum × haematodes)

Flowers about ten in the truss. Corolla dark scarlet, waxy, tubular-campanulate, about 2 in. wide; calyx petaloid. Leaves stiff, oblanceolate or elliptic, dark green and glossy above, coated beneath with a plastered pale indumentum. April. Excellent dense habit. (Aberconway. A.M. 1933. F.C.C. 1948.)

Rhododendron 'Choremia' from Tower Court in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 19 May 2020.19 February 2024. Image John Anderson.

'Christmas Cheer'

Flowers about eight in the truss on erect, reddish pedicels; bud-scales of inflorescence persistent. Corolla funnel-shaped with a broad base, 13⁄4 in. wide, frilled at the edge, pink in the bud and when first open, fading to blush but darker outside on the ridges, with pale red or greenish speckles running from the base of the two upper sinuses into the throat. Stamen-filaments white. Style deep pink. Ovary oblong-conoid, white-hairy. Leaves medium green, brown beneath from a very fine close indumentum, elliptic to narrow-obovate, rather narrowly cuneate at the base. April.

The plant described here belongs to a clone in commerce as ‘Christmas Cheer’, which is said to attain about 6 ft in height. It is doubtfully the same as the large plants in the R.H.S. Garden at Wisley and in the Savill Garden under this name. The latter is 15 ft high. It is possible that these are the true ‘Christmas Cheer’, and that the dwarfer plant is the same as ‘Silberaad’s Early Pink’, of which there is a detailed description in the Ivens Manuscript, drawn up in 1930, which seems to agree with the plant described above in every respect.

Another hybrid in this group is ‘Rosa Mundi’, which was probably raised by Standish and Noble. This differs from the plant described above in its dark green leaves and in its still dwarfer habit – only 2 or 3 ft high in twenty years.

'Christopher Wren'

Yellow, the two upper laterals flushed with orange pink; flare deep yellow (L. J. Endtz and Co.). A fine, vigorous azalea, believed to derive from ‘Altaclarense’. It flowers at the same time as the Mollis azaleas.

Cilpinense (ciliatum × moupinense)

Inflorescence two- or three-flowered. Corolla broad funnel-shaped, 23⁄4 to 3 in. wide, pale pink shading to a deeper colour at the edges, with two lines of crimson speckles. Calyx-lobes edged with long hairs. Leaves bright green, glossy, reticulate, elliptic to slightly obovate, to 2 in. long. March-April. (Aberconway, 1927. A.M. 1927. F.C.C. 1968.) The description is of a commercial clone, which does not usually exceed 3 ft in height, but much more in width. A lovely hybrid, nearer to R. ciliatum than to the other parent. There are other forms, however, some with smaller, whiter flowers.

Rhododendron Cilpinense (Castle Howard Arboretum, UK, March 2026). Image John Grimshaw.

Cinnkeys (cinnabarinum × keysii)

Flowers from terminal and upper axillary buds, forming a many-flowered multiple truss. Corolla about 1 1⁄2 in. long, waxy, tubular, light red with soft yellow lobes. Late May-early June. Erect habit, to 10 ft or even more. (Magor, cross made 1917.) In ‘Minterne Cinnkeys’, raised by Lord Digby, the flowers have pale red lobes. A.M. 1951. This was probably raised from R. keysii var. unicolor.

Rhododendron Cinnkeys at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 8 May 2012. Image John Anderson.

A pink-flowered Rhododendron Cinnkeys (FCC form) at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 26 April 2007. Image John Anderson.

'Coccinea Speciosa'

Tangerine red, upper lobe yellower, 11⁄2 to 13⁄4 in. wide, tube slender, scarlet-crimson. A very old Ghent, listed by Loddiges in 1836, and still common in cultivation, recommended in 1968 for an Award of Garden Merit. It is of widely spreading habit and flowers in early June.

'Colonel Rogers'

A hybrid between R. falconeri and R. niveum, with larger flowers than in the latter, mauve at first but paling to white as they age. It is probable that the original plant was the one mentioned by Millais in 1917 as growing in the garden at Riverhill, Sevenoaks, Kent. The cross is believed to have occurred in other gardens.

Rhododendron 'Colonel Rogers' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 17 April 2014. Image John Anderson.

Comely (concatenans × 'Lady Chamberlain')

This cross was made originally at Bodnant, but the clones that have so far received awards were raised in other gardens. These are:

– ‘Golden Orfe’. – Flowers about seven in the truss. Corolla similar to that of R. concatenans in shape, i.e., tubular-campanulate and rather short, 2 in. long and wide, orange-yellow (Nasturtium Orange, 25c). Raised at Tower Court, Ascot, and taken to Tremeer, Cornwall, by Mrs Stevenson after her remarriage to Gen. Harrison. A.M. 1964. It is in commerce.

– ‘Dayan’. – This was raised at Exbury by Edmund de Rothschild, and received an A.M. in 1967; described in R.C.Y.B. 1968, p. 231.

'Concessum's Master'

Dense truss of about 16 flowers. Corolla almost saucer-shaped, 3 in. wide, Rose Bengal, paling to almost white at the centre. June. An old hybrid probably so called because superior to the still older ‘Concessum’, which was raised in Belgium and shown by Standish and Noble in 1854.

Conroy (cinnabarinum var. roylei × concatenans)

Flowers pendent, about six in the truss. Corolla tubular-campanulate, 2 in. long, 1 1⁄2 in. wide, fleshy, light orange tinged with pink. Leaves elliptic, dark green, 3 in. long. Medium sized. May. (Aberconway. A.M. 1950.)

A similar hybrid is ‘Caerhays Philip’, in which the parent on the cinnabarinum side was var. blandfordiiflorum. The corollas are yellow, more open than in the A.M. form of Conroy, 2 1⁄2 in. wide. Raised at Caerhays by the Hon. Charles Williams and Charles Michael. A.M. 1966.

Rhododendron 'Conroy' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 2 May 2018. Image John Anderson.

Close up on the truss of Rhododendron 'Conroy' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 2 May 2018. Image John Anderson.

'Constable'

Truss open, with about 20 flowers. Corolla funnel-campanulate, about 3 in. wide, in a pleasing shade of greenish yellow, with reddish markings in the throat. Late April-early May. (Hawk ‘Jervis Bay’ × litiense; R.H.S. Wisley. A.M. 1961.) R.C.Y.B. 1962, fig. 35.

'Constant Nymph'

Truss dense, dome-shaped, with 12 to 14 flowers. Corolla widely funnel-shaped, to 41⁄2 in. wide, waved and slightly frilled at the margin, white, flushed with light purple at the centre of the lobes. Late May. (campanulatum × ‘Purple Splendour’; Waterer, Knap Hill, intr. 1955. A.M.T. 1971.)

'Corneille'

Double, white flushed with pale pink, petaloids white, tube bright red at the base, its upper part and the outside of the limb pink (Ghent; C. Vuylsteke).

Cornish Cross (griffithianum × thomsonii)

Flowers six to nine in a lax truss. Corolla funnel-campanulate, about 4 in. wide, upper lobe and throat beneath it crimson, rest of corolla paler crimson, especially at the centre of the lobes, overall effect two tones of crimson pink. Calyx large, irregularly lobed, coloured like the corolla, about 1 in. wide. Leaves elliptic to obovate, broadly obtuse, to 10 in. long, 31⁄2 in. wide. Late April-early May. To about 12 ft high. Bark peeling, pinkish brown. ‘Cornish Cross’ was the name given to plants raised by Samuel Smith at Penjerrick, from a cross made about 1920, propagated and distributed by Messrs R. Veitch. But the same cross had been made at the end of the 19th century by Sir John Llewellyn, Bt, of Swansea and received an A.M. when shown by him under the name ‘Pengaer’ in 1911. In ‘Exbury Cornish Cross’ (A.M. 1935) the flowers are brighter and more evenly crimson than in the plant described above. Smith had used a not outstanding form of R. thomsonii and a R. griffithianum raised at Penjerrick; in the Exbury cross, the F.C.C. form of R. griffithianum was used (Rothschild Rhododendrons, p. 67 and pl. 31; Rhodo. Soc. Notes, Vol. III, pp. 254–5).

Another fine clone of Cornish Cross is ‘Gilian’ (A.M. 1923). It was raised by E. J. P. Magor, who originally gave the parentage as R. campylocarpum × R. griffithianum but later became convinced that he must have misrecorded the cross. His son Major Walter Magor tells us his father was eventually quite satisfied that ‘Gilian’ is a form of Cornish Cross. The flowers are rich crimson red, fading at the centre as they age.

Cornubia (arboreum × Shilsonii)

This cross was made by S. Smith, head gardener to R. Barclay Fox, Penjerrick, in 1901. The seed-parent was a blood-red arboreum. Shilsonii is a hybrid between R. barbatum and R. thomsonii, so the cross brings together the three great red-flowered Himalayan rhododendrons. It was named ‘Lilianii’ at Penjerrick, but half of the 400 or so seedlings raised were made over to Messrs Gill, who named their share ‘Cornubia’. The plants are variable in the shade of red of their flowers, but the influence of R. arboreum shows in the compact, hemispherical truss; the corollas are larger than in that species, 2 to 3 in. wide. The foliage usually has the texture of R. arboreum, but varies in size. The flowering time is late winter or early spring. A.M. 1912 (flowers blood-red).

'Coronation Lady'

Salmon-pink with an orange-yellow flare (Knap Hill; Waterer, Bagshot). A fine azalea, raised from ‘Cecile’.

'Corry Koster'

Flowers about 16 in a conical truss; rachis 3 in. long. Corolla at first buff-pink, becoming light pink shading to white at the edges, spotted brown-crimson on the upper lobe, funnel-shaped, about 3 in. wide, margins frilled. Moderate growth. Late May. (M. Koster and Sons, 1909.) Probably a hybrid of ‘Chev. Felix de Sauvage’.

'Countess of Athlone'

Truss conical, with about 15 flowers. Corolla funnel-shaped, 31⁄2 in. wide, with overlapping lobes, wavy-edged, pale mauve with greenish-yellow markings near the base of the upper lobe. Medium growth. Late May. (C. B. van Nes and Sons, 1923; ‘Catawbiense Grandiflorum’ × ‘Geoffroy Millais’.) A pleasing colour, but corolla poorly shaped and truss too large.

'Countess of Derby'

A hybrid of ‘Pink Pearl’, differing in the much larger truss, 10 in. wide, large flowers (4 in. wide), of a deeper, cleaner pink. Leaves dull greyish green. The other parent is ‘Cynthia’. (Sunningdale Nurseries, 1913 A.M. 1930.)

'Countess of Haddington'

Flowers fragrant, up to six in a cluster. Corolla tubular-funnel-shaped, 23⁄4 in. wide, white flushed with lilac pink, yellow in the throat at first. Calyx leafy, divided almost to the base, lobes almost 1⁄2 in. long, spreading. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, obtuse, up to 4 in. long, light green above, margins ciliate. Of rounded, fairly dense habit, to about 6 ft high and wide. April. (Journ. R.H.S., Vol. 88 (1963), fig. 38; Gard. Chron., suppl. ill., May 19, 1888.) F.C.C. 1862, when shown by the nurseryman R. Parker of Tooting, and said in the original description to be a hybrid raised ‘from R. dalhousiae’. There can be little doubt that R. ciliatum is the other parent. Indeed, J. H. Mangles, who was well informed on such matters, wrote in 1881 that R. ciliatum was the seed-parent (Gard. Chron., Vol. 15, 2nd ser., p. 108). Once established it should survive most winters in a sheltered place in southern England.

Rhododendron 'Countess of Haddington' at the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 15 April 2019. Image John Anderson.

'Countess of Sefton'

Flowers about four per truss, fragrant. Corolla funnel-campanulate with spreading lobes, 31⁄2 in. wide, white, with red spotting in the upper part and stained red outside when first open. Calyx with shallow, rounded lobes, edged with long, white hairs. Leaves elliptic, bullate, glossy, densely scaly beneath. Low growing and fairly compact. A hybrid between R. edgeworthii and R. Multiflorum (ciliatum × virgatum), raised by Isaac Davies of Ormskirk, Lancs, shortly before 1879. The results of the cross varied, and altogether six of the seedlings were named and propagated, of which the best were said to be ‘Countess of Derby’ and ‘Lady Skelmersdale’, but ‘Countess of Sefton’ seems to be the only one to have survived, at least under its original name. Short descriptions were given in Gard. Chron., 2nd ser., Vol. 12, p. 201 (1879). ‘Countess of Sefton’ is almost hardy, and should survive most winters in a sheltered place in southern England.

Cowslip (wardii × williamsianum)

Flowers about five in a lax truss on glandular red-tinged pedicels. Corolla cup-shaped, 3 in. wide, pink in the bud, becoming ivory white with a slight tinge of pink, streaked with red at the base below the centre lobe. Style glandular to the apex, with a red stigma. Leaves broadly oblong-elliptic, rounded at the apex, cordate at the base, about 2 1⁄2 in. long. Compact and fairly dwarf. April or early May. (Aberconway. A.M. 1937.)

Rhododendron 'Cowslip' in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 19 April 2017. Image John Anderson.

Close up on the flowers of Rhododendron 'Cowslip' in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 19 April 2017. Image John Anderson.

'Crest'

See notes for Hawk group.

‘Crest’, which received an F.C.C. in 1953, is from the repetition of the cross. The flowers are about twelve in the truss. The corolla is very widely funnel-campanulate, 4 in. across and 11⁄2 in. deep, with seven rounded lobes, a lovely clear primrose-yellow shading to deeper below the upper lobes, unmarked except for faint streaking at the very base of the throat (Rothschild Rhododendrons, pl. 23).

‘Crest’ is so different in its flowers from those of the first batch that it has been suggested that some other form of R. wardii was used as the parent. Or it may be that mere chance decreed that the combination of characters seen in ‘Crest’ appeared in the second and not in the first batch. The seven lobes come from R. discolor, but KW 4170 (‘Lemon Bell’ as Kingdon Ward called it), with its unblotched corolla, has asserted itself over the other two parents – R. campylocarpum “var. elatum”, with its red eye, and R. discolor, which usually imparts a streaked throat to its offspring. ‘Crest’ is generally acknowledged to be the finest yellow-flowered hybrid yet raised, but may in time be supplanted by its offspring, of which a number have already received awards. See the note by T. H. Findlay in R.C.Y.B. 1967, pp. 73–4.

Using ‘Crest’ as one parent, T. H. Findlay has raised a number of fine hybrids for the Crown Estate Commissioners, Windsor, which are not yet generally available (1975). The following have received awards and been described in the Rhododendron and Camellia Year Book (the second parent is given in brackets): ‘Arborfield’ ([x] ‘Loderi Julie’), A.M. April 30, 1963, R.C.Y.B. 1964, p. 134 and fig. 54; ‘Binfield’ ([x] ‘China A’), A.M. May 5, 1964, R.C.Y.B. 1965, p. 166 and fig. 41; ‘Queen Elizabeth II’ (× Idealist), A.M. May 2, 1967, R.C.Y.B. 1968, p. 133 and fig. 6, see also R.C.Y.B. 1969, p. 109; ‘Theale’ (× Penjerrick), A.M. May 3, 1966, R.C.Y.B. 1967, p. 166 and plate 6; ‘Warfield’ (× Jalisco), A.M. May 18, 1970, R.C.Y.B. 1971, p. 185 and fig. 66.

Another hybrid from ‘Crest’ is ‘Cara Mia’, raised by Edmund de Rothschild at Exbury from a cross with ‘Aurora’; A.M. May 3, 1966, R.C.Y.B. 1967, p. 163 and fig. 37.

Rhododendron 'Crest' at Dunedin Botanic Gardens, New Zealand. 25 November 2023. Image Tom Christian.

Close up on a flower truss of Rhododendron 'Crest' in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 5 May 2017. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Crest' in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 11 May 2021. Image John Anderson.

Crossbill (lutescens × spinuliferum)

Flowers about three in each truss. Corolla funnel-campanulate, about 1 in. long and wide, pale yellow, stained red outside, with two bands of yellow-green speckles inside. Stamens and style exserted, the latter about 1 1⁄2 in. long, upcurved. April. The cross was made at Caerhays and later repeated at Exbury.

Rhododendron Crossbill Group in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 3 April 2018. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron Crossbill Group in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 2 March 2017. Image John Anderson.

Cunninghamii

Flowers up to 24 in a compact truss. Corolla broad-campanulate, about 21⁄4 in. wide, white with a flare of dark purple markings and crimson nectaries. Leaves oblanceolate, to 61⁄4 in. long and almost 2 in. wide, acute, deep green and rather bullate, clad beneath with a brown tomentum. A large, compact shrub. Early May.

This hybrid was made by George Cunningham, Oakvale Nursery, Liverpool, in the 1840s. The above description, based on the Ivens Manuscript, agrees with the original accounts and figures (Gard. Mag. Bot. Hort. (1851), t. 16; Paxton’s Flow. Gard., Vol. I (1850), p. 81 and t. 16, as R. cinnamomeum var. cunninghamii). So, too, does the hybrid grown under the name ‘George Cunningham’. The parentage of Cunninghamii is R. arboreum var. cinnamomeum crossed with ‘late white Maximum’ (seed-parent).

The R. cunninghamii of K. Koch is probably ‘Cunningham’s White’ (q.v.), which is quite a different hybrid.

'Cunningham's Album Compactum'

Flowers about 14 in a dense truss, from persistent bud-scales. Corolla funnel-shaped, 2 in. wide, white with greenish-brown markings at the base of the upper lobe. Leaves narrow-elliptic, to 4 in. long and only just over 1 in. wide, rigid, dull green above, clad beneath with a brown indumentum. Compact habit, to about 6 ft high. May.

A hybrid of R. caucasicum, believed to have been raised in the 1830s or 1840s at Cunningham’s Comely Bank Nursery, Edinburgh, with a white-flowered R. arboreum as the pollen-parent. According to a letter to Kew (1909) from J. Fraser, then co-proprietor of this nursery, one-third approximately of the seedlings from this cross take after R. caucasicum in habit, and vary in colour from white to pale yellow. This hybrid has been confused with ‘Cunningham’s White’, which has quite different foliage. It was apparently also known in the last century as ‘Cunningham’s Dwarf White’.

'Cunningham's Blush'

Similar to ‘Cunningham’s White’ (see below) but flowers up to 14 in the truss and the corollas tinted with pink even when fully open and with darker speckling. The two may well have come from the same seed-pod. It is an uncommon but quite pretty rhododendron, attaining 12 ft or so in height. There are two clumps of it at Nymans in Sussex, in the Heather Garden.

'Cunningham's Sulphur'

A compact bush with pale yellow flowers, very near to R. caucasicum in its botanical characters, raised by Cunningham and Fraser, Comely Bank Nurseries, Edinburgh, at the end of the last century and sent out originally as “R. sulphureum”. According to J. Fraser, in the letter to Kew referred to under ‘Cunningham’s Album Compactum’, it was raised from R. caucasicum pollinated by a white-flowered R. arboreum.

'Cunningham's White'

Flowers about eight in a lax truss, on ascending pedicels 1 3⁄8 to 1 5⁄8 in. long. Corolla funnel-shaped, about 2 in. wide, tinted light mauve when opening, becoming pure white with fine speckling of yellow, brown or purple on the upper lobe. Leaves dark green, oblanceolate, 4 in. long. A compact shrub, usually not more than 10 ft high, flowering early to mid-May. It is a hybrid between R. caucasicum and R. ponticum album. A very similar plant, figured in Bot. Mag., t. 3811, was raised by Veitch and is of the same parentage (assuming that Veitch’s R. ponticum albiflorum was the same as the plant used by Cunningham). Many of the so-called varieties of R. ponticum grown in the early part of the last century were hybrids.

‘Cunningham’s White’ is one of the commonest of the old hybrids, especially in the North and Midlands. In a letter to Kew, received early this century, James Smith of the Darley Dale Nurseries stated that this hybrid thrives well in a limestone district, in evidence of which were the large number of thriving plants planted by his firm near Buxton. It has been recommended for covert planting in place of R. ponticum, probably because it is less aggressive. Being easily propagated by cuttings, and very hardy, it has been used as a stock, especially on the Continent and for rhododendrons intended for export to the colder parts of North America. Even the greenhouse azaleas are said to grow well on its roots.

Rhododendron 'Cunningham's White' in Windsor Great Park, UK. 19 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Cunningham's White' in Windsor Great Park, UK. 19 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

'Curlew'

Flowers solitary, or in twos or threes. Corolla wide-campanulate, 2 in. wide, light yellow, marked with greenish brown in the upper part of the throat. Calyx deeply lobed, long ciliate, lobes to 1⁄4 in. or slightly more long. Leaves dark green, narrow-obovate to obovate, about 11⁄2 in. long. Forms a shrub to at least 2 m – not a dwarf plant. May. A lovely hybrid raised by Peter Cox, from R. ludlowii crossed with R. fletcherianum ‘Yellow Bunting’. F.C.C. 1969, when exhibited by Glendoick Gardens Ltd.

Rhododendron 'Curlew' (Yorkshire Arboretum, UK, April 2020). Image John Grimshaw.

'Cynthia'

Flowers up to 24 in a pyramidal truss on pedicels to 2 in. long. Calyx-lobes oblong, acute or truncate at the apex. Corolla funnel-shaped, ribbed, about 3 in. wide, deep rose-pink with darker spotting on the upper lobes (mostly confined to the central one). Stamen-filaments pink. Leaves oblong elliptic to slightly obovate, broadly obtuse at the apex, about 6 1⁄2 in. long and 2 5⁄8 in. wide. May.

‘Cynthia’ was exhibited by Charles Noble in 1862 under the name ‘Lord Palmerston’ and was presumably raised by Standish and Noble before the dissolution of their partnership in 1856. It is one of the largest and most vigorous of the old hybrids, attaining a height of 25 ft (or even more in a sheltered place). It was slow to gain recognition but in the early decades of this century it was second only to ‘Pink Pearl’ in popularity. Unfortunately, it is not a good mixer, the flowers having a strong hint of magenta in their colouring.

Rhododendron 'Cynthia' at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK. 16 May 2025. Image Tom Christian.

Rhododendron 'Cynthia' in a private area of Windsor Great Park, UK. 19 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Cynthia' in Windsor Great Park, UK. 6 June 2019. Image John Anderson.