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'Rhododendron ripense' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Shrub, 1–2 m; young shoots and petioles densely covered with loosely adpressed flattened bristles that are intermixed with softer grey-brown, sometimes gland-tipped hairs. Leaves of two kinds; spring leaves deciduous, 3.5–5 × 1.5–2 cm, ovate-lanceolate, apex mucronate, both surfaces covered with adpressed reddish grey pilose hairs, especially on the midrib; summer leaves 1.5–3 × 0.5–1 cm, oblanceolate. Pedicels covered with soft spreading pilose hairs, sometimes with glandular and flattened bristles. Flowers 1–3 per inflorescence; calyx to 15 mm; corolla white or rose-pink to red, widely funnel-shaped, 25–50 mm; stamens 10; ovary covered with bristles, style glabrous. Flowering April-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)
Distribution Japan Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu
Habitat 50–500 m
RHS Hardiness Rating H4
Conservation status Least concern (LC)
This species is closely allied to R. stenopetalum but differs in the smaller leaves and adpressed-hairy shoots, etc.
R. mucronatum, with white flowers, is presumed to be an artificial hybrid derived from R. ripense and R. stenopetalum. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)