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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 nervulosum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Shrub to 1.5 m, mostly terrestrial; young twigs only very finely scaly quickly glabrescent. Leaves 5.5–8 × 0.7–1.5, narrowly elliptic to almost linear, the apex acute, the margin entire, slightly revolute in the basal half, the base narrowly tapering; the upper surface at first finely pale brown-scaly, quickly glabrescent, midrib slightly impressed in the basal half, smooth in the upper part, lateral veins 4–6 pairs, smooth; lower surface with the midrib very slightly raised throughout its length, the laterals smooth, the scales small, lobed and sparse. Flowers 1–6 per umbel, horizontal to half hanging; calyx a low minutely scaly ring; corolla opening orange and darkening to reddish with age, funnel-shaped, 2.5–4 × 2–3 cm, glabrous outside; stamens 10, slightly dimorphic, arranged regularly around the mouth of the flower; ovary densely white-hairy and with small brown scales, style glabrous. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)
Distribution Malaysia Borneo (Sabah, Kinabalu to Mt Lotung)
Habitat 2,500–3,000 m
RHS Hardiness Rating H2
Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)
This is closely allied to R. stenophyllum but may be distinguished by its broader leaves. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)