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Rhododendron luteiflorum (Davidian) Cullen

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

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New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron luteiflorum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-luteiflorum/). Accessed 2024-09-12.

Genus

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
obtuse
Blunt.

Credits

New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron luteiflorum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-luteiflorum/). Accessed 2024-09-12.

Rhododendron luteiflorum

Rhododendron luteiflorum from the type collection KW 21556 flowering in Park Wood, Hergest Croft, UK, mid-March 2020 (catalogue number 9833). Image Tom Christian.

Shrub, to 1 m; shoots with a peeling brown bark. Leaves (4–)6.8 × 1.5–2.6 cm, elliptic, apex obtuse, lower surface with a glaucous papillate epidermis, scales 3–8× their own diameter apart, unequal, the smaller golden, the larger brown. Pedicels scaly. Flowers 3–6 per inflorescence; calyx lobes 6–8 mm, lacking a tuft of hairs at the obtuse apex; corolla bright yellow, campanulate, 20–22 mm; stamens 10, regular; ovary scaly, style sharply deflexed, glabrous. Flowering April-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  Myanmar NE

Habitat 3,050–3,350 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Awards AM 1960 and FCC 1966 (National Trust for Scotland, Brodick Castle Gardens) to a clone 'Glen Cloy', from Kingdon-Ward 21556; flowers Dresden Yellow.

Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)

Closely allied to R. glaucophyllum but differing in the obtuse elliptic leaves, the calyx lobes lacking a tuft of hairs at the apex, and in the bright yellow flowers. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Rhododendron luteiflorum

The peeling red-brown bark of Rhododendron luteiflorum adds to its overall beauty. Raised from KW 21556 and growing in Park Wood, Hergest Croft, UK (catalogue number 9833). Mid-March 2020. Image Tom Christian.

Rhododendron luteiflorum

Rhododendron luteiflorum 'Glen Coy' is a particularly large-flowered selection (March 2023). Image Jack Aldridge.

Rhododendron luteiflorum

Rhododendron luteiflorum 'Glen Coy' flowering well in a private garden in Devon (March 2023). Image Jack Aldridge.

Rhododendron luteiflorum

Rhododendron luteiflorum KW 21040 (Yorkshire Arboretum, UK, May 2023). Image John Grimshaw.

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