Rhododendron hemsleyanum Wils.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron hemsleyanum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-hemsleyanum/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Rhododendron chengianum Fang

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
auriculate
With one or more auricles.
campanulate
Bell-shaped.
cordate
Heart-shaped (i.e. with two equal lobes at the base).
corymb
Unbranched inflorescence with lateral flowers the pedicels of which are of different lengths making the inflorescence appear flat-topped.
discoid
Flat and circular.
endemic
(of a plant or an animal) Found in a native state only within a defined region or country.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glandular
Bearing glands.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
stigma
(in a flower) The part of the carpel that receives pollen and on which it germinates. May be at the tip of a short or long style or may be reduced to a stigmatic surface at the apex of the ovary.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron hemsleyanum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-hemsleyanum/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Shrub to tree, 2–8 m; Leaves 10–20 × 4–10 cm, ovate to ovate-elliptic, base cordate, margin undulate, lower surface with scattered punctulate hair bases and a few stalked glands at base, otherwise glabrous. Flowers 5–8, in lax trusses; calyx c.1mm; corolla 6–7-lobed, white, without flecks, campanulate, nectar pouches lacking, 45–60 cm; stamens c.14; ovary and style glandular. Flowering May-June. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  China W Sichuan

Habitat 1,100–2,000 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H5

Conservation status Critically endangered (CR)

Taxonomic note A distinctive species with a very restricted distribution in the wild. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

An evergreen shrub or small tree 10 to 20 ft high; young stems stout, slightly downy; leaf-buds conical. Leaves thick and leathery, oblong or oblong-ovate, 6 to 8 in. long, 234 to 312 in. wide, rounded at the apex, deeply cordate-auriculate at the base, upper surface dark green, glabrous, lower surface paler, papillose, lateral veins parallel, in thirteen to fifteen pairs; petioles stout, up to 134 in. long, sparsely glandular. Flowers borne in May in a racemose corymb of up to twelve; pedicels up to 138 in. long, glandular and slightly hairy. Calyx very small. Corolla white, funnel-campanulate, seven-lobed, 2 to 258 in. long. Stamens fourteen, glabrous. Ovary glandular, conoid; style glandular throughout, with a discoid stigma. Pl. Omeienses, t. 30; R.Y.B. 1947, fig. 29. (s. and ss. Fortunei)

This interesting species was discovered by Wilson on Mt Omei in W. Szechwan in 1900 and is said to be endemic to that area. He did not collect seeds, and the species was quite unknown in Britain except from written accounts until Mr E. H. M. Cox obtained seeds from the Rhododendron Test Garden at Portland, Oregon, USA, from which plants were raised and distributed from 1969 onwards by Glendoick Gardens Ltd. He had seen the plants flowering there in May 1964 and published a short note on it in the Rhododendron Year Book for 1966 (p. 133 and fig. 53).

In describing this species Wilson compared it with R. auriculatum, which it resembles in the shape and general appearance of the leaves. But in other respects it seems to be nearer to the Fortunei series, in which it at present resides. Plants from Glendoick are growing well in several gardens, and one flowered in Cornwall in 1973. The wavy edge of the leaves shown by some of these plants seems to be a characteristic of the species.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

The original source of the plants now in cultivation was seed sent by H. H. Hu to the Arnold Arboretum in 1937 and further distributed by the University of Washington Arboretum, Seattle.