Rhododendron dauricum L.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron dauricum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-dauricum/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Genus

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron dauricum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-dauricum/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Straggling shrub, 0.5–1.5 m; young shoots scaly and puberulous. Leaves thick and leathery, some persisting, 1–3.5 × 0.5–2 cm, elliptic to oval, apex rounded, mucronate, upper surface with midrib shortly puberulent, otherwise glabrous, lower surface densely scaly. Flowers solitary, axillary but at the ends of the branches; calyx rim-like; corolla pink or violet pink, openly funnel-shaped, 14–21 mm, outer surface pilose towards base; stamens 10; ovary scaly, otherwise glabrous, impressed below the decimate style. Flowering January-March. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

Distribution  China N Japan Hokkaido MongoliaRussia Eastern Siberia

Habitat s.l.-1,600 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Awards AM 1990 (Crown Estate Commissioners, Windsor) to a clone 'Hiltingbury'; flowers in clusters of 3-4, corolla purple within, reverse a darker purple. AGM 1993, to an FCC clone 'Midwinter'.

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note This species is closely allied to R. mucronulatum but differs in the partially persistent leaves that are more densely scaly below, and in the smaller flowers. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

A deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub up to 6 ft in height; young shoots scaly and downy. Leaves oval, rounded at the apex, tapering or rounded at the base, 12 to 112 in. long, 14 to 58 in. wide, dark glossy green and slightly scaly above, paler and scaly beneath. Flowers bright rosy purple, 1 to 112 in. across, produced during January and February singly from each one of a cluster of scaly buds at the end of the previous summer’s growth, where there are usually but one or two flowers open at a time. Corolla flat, saucer-shaped; calyx-lobes five, short. Bot. Mag., t. 636 (s. Dauricum)

Native of Russia from E. Siberia to the Pacific, and of N.E. Mongolia, N.E. China, Korea, and Japan; grown in English gardens since 1780. It is one of the earliest of rhododendrons to flower, showing its blossoms usually in January, sometimes even when snow is on the ground, but later in some seasons. For this reason, although its beauties are of a modest kind, it is well worth growing in a small group, preferably in some spot sufficiently sheltered to mitigate to some extent the harshness of wind and weather at the inclement season when its blossoms appear.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

It should be noted that the correct name for the former Dauricum series is subsect. Rhodorastrum.

There are other clones of R. dauricum now available (apart from ‘Midwinter’), giving together a range of flowering times from winter to spring.

For the related species recognised in the Flora of the Soviet Union, see Rev. 1, p. 113.


'Hokkaido'

Flowers large, white, in March-April. Award of Merit 1979, when exhibited by Peter Cox, Glendoick Nurseries. It was originally introduced to the USA by Warren Berg.


'Midwinter'

A selection with Phlox Purple flowers. Award of Merit March 19, 1963; First Class Certificate February 4, 1969, on both occasions when exhibited by the Crown Estate Commissioners, Windsor Great Park.


var. sempervirens Sims

Synonyms
R. dauricum var. atrovirens Hort.
R. ledebourii Poyark

Leaves very dark green, persisting through the winter and still clothing the plant at flowering-time, which, in the plant figured in Bot. Mag., t. 8930, is March or April. It has recently been given specific status as R. ledebourii, on the grounds that it occupies a distinct area in the Altai and E. Siberia, where it does not overlap with typical R. dauricum (Fl. S.S.S.R., Vol. 18 (1952), pp. 54, 722). It was in cultivation by 1817, in which year it was figured in Bot. Mag., t. 1888. There was a reintroduction in 1967, when M. Robert de Belder sent some plants to Britain raised from seeds received from Russia under the name R. ledebourii.