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Rhododendron huianum Fang

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Sponsor

Kindly sponsored by
Peter Norris, enabling the use of The Rhododendron Handbook 1998

Credits

New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron huianum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-huianum/). Accessed 2026-05-16.

Family

  • Ericaceae

Genus

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.

Credits

New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron huianum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-huianum/). Accessed 2026-05-16.

Rhododendron huianum

Rhododendron huanum CH 7073 at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK. 2 April 2026. Image Tom Christian.

Shrub or small tree, 2–9 m; shoots soon becoming glabrous. Leaves 10–12.5 × 2–3 cm, oblanceolate, apex cuspidate to acuminate, lower surface glabrous. Flowers 6–10, borne on a 3–6cm rhachis; pedicels glabrous; calyx 5–10 mm, lobes rounded; corolla 7-lobed, pale red to purplish or lilac, open-campanulate, 35–50 mm, glabrous; stamens 12–14; ovary and style glandular. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  China NE Yunnan & adjacent parts of Sichuan

Habitat 1,000–2,700 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Conservation status Near threatened (NT)

This species is allied to R. davidii but differs in the larger calyx. It has only recently been introduced into cultivation from seed collected in NE Yunnan. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Rhododendron huianum

Rhododendron huanum CH 7073 in flower in Park Wood at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire (April 2022). Image Jack Aldridge.

Rhododendron huianum

Reputedly difficult to grow well, Rhododendron huianum at Hergest Croft defies that reputation, where it has proven itself as a strong new contender among other Rhododendron species in the collection in Park Wood (April 2022). Image Jack Aldridge.

Rhododendron huianum

Even after the corollas have fallen, the purple calyces of Rhododendron huanum remain decorative. Image Mike Robinson.

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