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Peter Norris, enabling the use of The Rhododendron Handbook 1998
New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.
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'Rhododendron maius' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Shrub up to 3 m, terrestrial or epiphytic, young stems laxly scaly. Leaves 4.7–8.7 × 2.5–4 cm, elliptic, broadly elliptic to elliptic-ovate, the apex broadly attenuate to obtuse, the margin slightly revolute, the base broadly tapering to rounded; the upper surface at first finely silvery scaly, quickly glabrescent, midrib slightly impressed above, laterals 9–10 pairs, also slightly impressed; underneath the midrib very prominent but tapering markedly from the base, lateral veins and even the finer veins slightly prominent. Flowers 5–15 in an umbel, horizontal to half hanging; calyx laxly scaly, an almost entire disc or irregularly 5-toothed; corolla white or a little pink on the tube, trumpet-shaped but slightly curved and broadest in the middle, beautifully scented, 7–9 × 2.2–2.8 cm, laxly scaly outside; stamens 10, irregular in the mouth; ovary densely hairy and scaly, the style densely hairy and scaly near the base, the indumentum thinning until the top third is entirely glabrous. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)
Distribution Indonesia Hubrecht Mts near Lake Habbema Papua New Guinea widespread but rather infrequent from Mt Capella to the Bulldog Road
Habitat 2,700–3,200 m
RHS Hardiness Rating H2
Conservation status Least concern (LC)
A lovely and easily grown species. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)