Kindly sponsored by
Peter Norris, enabling the use of The Rhododendron Handbook 1998
New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.
Recommended citation
'Rhododendron fletcherianum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Compact shrub 0.6–1.2 m; young shoots covered with setae. Leaves 2.3–5.5 × 1–2.8 cm, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, apex obtuse or acute, mucronate, margin distinctly crenate, upper surface with impressed midrib, lower surface with distant scales. Flowers 2–4(–5), in a loose inflorescence, not scented; calyx lobes 8–10 mm, ciliate; corolla pale yellow, broadly funnel-shaped, 35–42 mm, outer surface scaly or not, base glabrous; stamens 10; ovary scaly, conspicuously setose towards apex. Flowering March-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).
Distribution China SE Tibet
Habitat 4,000–4,300 m
RHS Hardiness Rating H5
Awards AM 1964 (E.H.M. & P.A. Cox, Glendoick Gardens, Perth) from Rock 22302, to a clone 'Yellow Bunting'; flowers Primrose Yellow
Conservation status Endangered (EN)
Closely allied to R. valentinianum but differing in the partially setose ovary and in the leaves that are crenulate, with distant scales below. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)