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Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum Hayata

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

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-pseudochrysanthum/). Accessed 2024-11-11.

Genus

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
campanulate
Bell-shaped.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glandular
Bearing glands.
lanceolate
Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
oblanceolate
Inversely lanceolate; broadest towards apex.
petiole
Leaf stalk.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-pseudochrysanthum/). Accessed 2024-11-11.

Low shrub, 0.5–2 m; young shoots and petioles covered with a rufous to grey floccose tomentum. Leaves 3–8 × 1.5–5 cm, ovate to elliptic, apex acuminate, lower surface with a floccose indumentum when young, with a few scattered hair remains on the lamina at maturity, though with a more persistent tomentum of folioliferous hairs overlying the midrib. Flowers 5–12, in a tight truss; calyx c.2 mm; corolla white, sometimes tinged pink, usually with a red basal blotch and flecks, widely campanulate, nectar pouches lacking, 30–50 mm; ovary densely tomentose, also with a few stalked glands, style tomentose at base. Flowering April-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

Distribution  Taiwan

Habitat to 4,000 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)

An evergreen shrub of variable habit in the wild, sometimes up to 10 ft high, but a dwarf bush at high altitudes; young stems stout, clad with grey floccose hairs and stalked glands. Leaves thick and rigid, crowded, lanceolate, oblong-elliptic or oblong-oblanceolate, 112 to 3 in. long, 34 to 114 in. wide, apex rounded, abruptly narrowed to a short, stiff point, rounded at the base, dark green above, paler beneath, both surfaces at first clad with a loose, greyish flock which gradually wears away; petiole about 12 in. long. Flowers borne in April, ten to twenty in a fairly dense truss, on glandular pedicels up to 1 in. long. Calyx minute, fringed with glands. Corolla five-lobed, campanulate, 114 to 134 in. long and wide, pale pink or white, speckled within, and with deeper-coloured streaks outside along the ridges. Stamens ten, hairy at the base. Ovary glandular-hairy; style glabrous. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 284. (s. Barbatum ss. Maculiferum)

Native of Formosa, where according to Wilson it grows gregariously on the higher peaks of the central range, covering large areas with impenetrable thickets, and preferring open, rocky, wind-swept situations. Wilson introduced it in 1918 from the summit of Mt Morrison, at over 13,000 ft, where it grows only 1 ft high. There was a second introduction around 1938, when seeds collected by Prof. Yashiroda were received in this country. It is related to R. morii, but that species has the leaves less hairy when young and also longer and relatively narrower.

R. pseudochrysanthum is a hardy but slow-growing species, best grown in full sun or only slight shade. It does not flower freely when young, but patience will be rewarded, for it is one of the most beautiful of the hardy kinds. It is rarely more than 4 ft high in cultivation, but grows much wider than high.

R. pseudochrysanthum received an Award of Merit when shown by Edmund de Rothschild from his garden at Exbury on May 1, 1956. The truss figured in the Botanical Magazine is also from a plant at Exbury.


var. nankotaisanense (Hayata) T.Yamaz

Synonyms
R. nankotaisanense Hayata

Ovary stalked-glandular; pedicels 25–30 mm. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Awards
AGM 1993

The status of var. nankotaisanense is somewhat problematical as there is very little material available. R. pseudochrysanthum apparently merges with R. morii in the wild but generally occurs at higher altitudes. In cultivation the two are generally distinct; the present species is a smaller plant, with smaller leaves. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)


var. pseudochrysanthum

Ovary densely rufous-tomentose or more or less glabrous; pedicels 13–20mm.

Awards AM 1956 (E. de Rothschild, Exbury); flowers white flushed pink, spotted crimson.