Kindly sponsored by
Peter Norris, enabling the use of The Rhododendron Handbook 1998
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Rhododendron microgynum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Shrub, usually dwarf, 0.6–2 m. Leaves 5.5–7.5 × 1.5–2(–3) cm, elliptic, lower surface covered with a dense felted, cinnamon to buff indumentum composed of rosulate hairs; petioles glabrescent. Flowers 3–7, in a tight truss; calyx 2–10 mm; corolla fleshy, pale rose to deep crimson, sometimes with faint flecks, 30–35 mm; ovary brown-tomentose and glandular, abruptly contracted into the glabrous style. Flowering April-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)
Distribution China SE Tibet, NW Yunnan
Habitat 3,650–4,250 m
RHS Hardiness Rating H5
Awards AM 1940 (L. de Rothschild, Exbury) as R. gymnocarpum; flowers deep rich crimson.
Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)
Taxonomic note Including R. gymnocarpum Balf.f. ex Tagg & R. perulatum BALF.F. & Forrest Royal Horticultural Society (1997)
See R. gymnocarpum on page 678. As mentioned, this species and R. microgynum are closely allied and have now been united.