Rhododendron simsii Planch.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron simsii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-simsii/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Azalea indica sens. Sims in Bot. Mag ., t. 1480, not L.
  • Rhododendron indicum var. simsii (Planch.) Maxim.
  • Rhododendron indicum of many authors, in part, not (L.) Sweet

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
monograph
Taxonomic account of a single genus or family.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
acuminate
Narrowing gradually to a point.
acute
Sharply pointed.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
appressed
Lying flat against an object.
calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
ciliate
Fringed with long hairs.
cuneate
Wedge-shaped.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
hybrid
Plant originating from the cross-fertilisation of genetically distinct individuals (e.g. two species or two subspecies).
oblanceolate
Inversely lanceolate; broadest towards apex.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
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 simsii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-simsii/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

Much-branched twiggy shrub, 1–3 mm; young shoots densely covered with adpressed flattened shining brown bristles. Leaves of two kinds; spring leaves deciduous, 3–7 × (0.6–)1–2 cm, ovate-lanceolate to linear-elliptic, apex acute, upper surface sparingly covered with adpressed bristles, lower surface paler, more densely covered with bristles, especially on midrib and veins; summer leaves persistent, 1–2 × 0.5–1 cm, elliptic to oblong-elliptic; petioles covered with adpressed red-brown bristles. Pedicels densely covered with bristles. Flowers 2–6 per inflorescence; calyx 3–7 mm, lobes ovate-lanceolate; corolla white to dark red, upper lobes with darker flecks, broadly funnel-shaped, 25–60 mm; stamens (8–)10; ovary densely covered with bristles, style with bristles at base, otherwise glabrous. Flowering May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  Myanmar NE ChinaJapanLaosThailandTaiwan

Habitat 600–2,700 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note R. simsii is cultivated widely in the warm temperate parts of the world and many cultivars are known. It has been used as a parent to produce the popular ‘Tot Azaleas’ that are sold for display indoors. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

An evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub 3 to 8 ft high in the wild; young shoots clad with appressed, flattened, forward-pointing hairs. Spring leaves (those on the lower part of the shoot) elliptic, oblong-elliptic, or ovate, up to 2 in. long and 1 in. or slightly more wide, acute to acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, often deciduous; summer leaves (those near the apex of the shoot) leathery, more persistent than the spring leaves, obovate to oblanceolate, up to 112 in. long and 12 in. wide; both kinds dull green above, paler beneath, clad on both sides, but more densely beneath, with appressed bristly hairs; the same type of hair covers the petiole, which is about 14 in. long or slightly shorter. Flowers opening in May, in terminal clusters of two or three, sometimes up to five or six, on densely appressed-bristly stalks up to 38 in. long. Lobes of calyx ovate or triangular, sometimes as much as 14 in. long but usually somewhat shorter, ciliate on the margin. Corolla five-lobed, broadly funnel-shaped, up to 2 in. wide on wild plants, coloured in some shade of red, with darker markings on the central or all three upper lobes. Stamens normally ten, rarely eight, never fewer. Ovary appressed-bristly; style glabrous. Bot. Mag., t. 1480. (s. Azalea ss. Obtusum)

Native of southern and central China as far west as Yunnan and as far south and east as Hong Kong; also of Formosa, Burma, Thailand, and bordering territories. According to Wilson it is common in the area of the Yangtse valley from near Ningpo to Mount Omei, in rocky places, on cliffs, and in thin dry woods and thickets. In Burma it is found on both branches of the Irrawaddy above the confluence near Myitkyina, growing on cliffs and rocks along the mainstreams and their tributaries, even where the surrounding vegetation is Indo-Malayan hill jungle, and is often completely submerged during the rainy season. Farrer writes of it as ‘smeared like an interminable bloodstain’ along both banks of the Ngaw Chang, a tributary of the eastern branch, and Kingdon Ward likened it in flower to ‘the glow from an active volcano at night’.

In China, R. simsii has long been valued as a garden plant and was introduced from there to Europe at an uncertain date, but before 1812, in which year Sims figured it in the Botanical Magazine under the erroneous name Azalea indica, from a plant grown by a James Vere. Until the publication of Wilson’s Monograph (1921) it was known by that name or as R. indicum, but the true R. indicum is confined to Japan and has flowers with only five stamens; it also differs in its relatively narrower, acute leaves. Wilson observes that up to about 1845 forms of R. indicum were more plentiful in gardens than those of R. simsii, but that from 1850 onwards the former rapidly dropped out of cultivation, their place being taken by the latter, which also usurped their name. The so-called Indian Azaleas derive mainly from R. simsii and are raised in vast quantities every year by Belgian and Dutch growers for indoor decoration during the winter months.

R. simsii in its wild form is rare in gardens and of course very tender. At Wakehurst Place, Sussex, there is a plant raised from seeds collected by Forrest, but under what number is not known. Most of the seeds of R. simsii sent home by Forrest appear to have come from cultivated plants. In the Wakehurst specimen, which received an Award of Merit on May 23, 1933, the flowers are bright rose, nearly 3 in. across, larger than in wild plants; perhaps a hybrid.


var. mesembrinum Balf.f. & Forrest ex Rehder

Corolla white to rose-pink, 25–40mm.

Habitat 1,800–2,700m.


var. simsii

Synonyms
R. annamense Rehder

Corolla red to rich carmine, 35–60 mm. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Awards
FCC 1933 (G.W.E. Loder, Wakehurst Place, Sussex); flowers bright rose.