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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 retivenium' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Shrub to 3 m, usually terrestrial; young stems green or reddish, covered in flat substellate scales. Leaves 11–16 × 3–5 cm, narrowly elliptic, the apex acute, the margin more or less flat, the base narrowly tapering; upper surface at first silvery scaly, quickly glabrescent, the midrib raised near the base and impressed in the upper part, lateral veins 12–18 pairs, slightly raised; lower surface with the midrib raised below, lateral veins somewhat raised, with small, widely distributed, lobed, scales with small centres. Flowers 4–7 per umbel, more or less horizontally held; calyx a low scaly ring; corolla yellow or yellow flushed orange, usually sweetly scented, funnel-shaped, 3–6.5 × 3.5–7.5 cm, with a few scattered scales outside; stamens 10, loosely and irregularly arranged on the lower side of the mouth; ovary very finely hairy (when viewed with a strong lens) and with a very few scales, style glabrous or hairy at the very base. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)
Distribution Malaysia Sabah (Mt Kinabalu and Mt Alab)
Habitat 2,000–2,700 m
RHS Hardiness Rating H2
Conservation status Least concern (LC)