Kindly sponsored by
Peter Norris, enabling the use of The Rhododendron Handbook 1998
New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.
Recommended citation
'Rhododendron formosanum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Shrub or small tree, 2–5.5 m. Leaves 7–13 × 1.5–3 cm, elliptic to oblanceolate, apex cuspidate, upper surface reticulate, lower surface with a one-layered compacted fawn indumentum intermixed with a few glands; petioles 1–2 cm. Flowers 10–20, in an open inflorescence, white to pink, with purplish flecks, widely funnel-shaped, nectar pouches lacking, 30–40 mm; ovary densely reddish-tomentose, style glabrous. Flowering April. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)
Distribution Taiwan
Habitat 800–2,000 m
RHS Hardiness Rating H5
Conservation status Least concern (LC)
The relatively narrow leaves with a one-layered indumentum and short petioles will distinguish this from the remaining species in Subsect. Argyrophylla. It is little grown as some forms are tender. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)