Rhododendron spinuliferum Franch.

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron spinuliferum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-spinuliferum/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Rhododendron duclouxii Lévl.
  • Rhododendron fuchsiaeflorum Lévl.
  • Rhododendron scabrifolium var. paucifiorum Franch.

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.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
lanceolate
Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
oblanceolate
Inversely lanceolate; broadest towards apex.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
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 spinuliferum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-spinuliferum/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

An upright shrub, 0.6–4.5 m; young shoots covered with filiform hairs, also with setae with swollen bases. Leaves 2.5–9.5 × 0.6–4.5 cm, lanceolate to elliptic, upper surface bullate, with filiform hairs that persist only along midrib, lower surface scaly and with setae that are soon deciduous though with swollen bases persisting around the margins. Flowers (l-)2–5, in a loose axillary terminal inflorescence; calyx disc-like, densely pubescent; corolla crimson to yellowish, tubular, 17–23 mm; stamens 10, exserted; ovary scaly, densely tomentose, impressed below the declinate style. Flowering April-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

Distribution  China C & S Yunnan, Guizhou

Habitat (800–)1,800–2,500 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Awards AM 1974 (N.T. Holman, Chyverton, Truro) to a clone 'Jack Hext'; flowers red, paler below. AM 1977 (National Trust for Scotland, Brodick Castle Gardens) to a clone 'Blackwater'; flowers red, greenish white at base.

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note This is a somewhat tender species that is generally distinctive on account of its tubular flowers, though some forms of R. scabrifolium do approach it. Only var. spinuliferum is known in cultivation. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

An evergreen shrub 3 to 8 ft high, the young shoots covered with pale hairs and bristles. Leaves lanceolate or oblanceolate, pointed at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base, 112 to 214 in. long, 12 to 34 in. wide, somewhat hooded and puckered above, with a few hairs near the margin, scaly and hairy beneath; stalk 14 in. long. Flowers in clusters, terminal and from the upper leaf-axils, opening in April; pedicels downy, about 14 in. long. Calyx very short, downy. Corolla tubular, usually brick-red, about 1 in. long and 12 in. wide, the five ovate lobes being erect or pressing inwards round the ten glabrous stamens which protrude about 14 in. beyond them. Ovary and base of style downy. Bot. Mag., t. 8408. (s. Scabrifolium)

Native of Yunnan, China; discovered by Delavay, and introduced to France by Maurice de Vilmorin in 1907, thence to Kew in 1910. The fears at first expressed as to its probable tenderness have not been borne out by experience. At Kew it has proved to be quite hardy. In the tubular shape of the corolla, which narrows rather than expands towards the mouth, the species resembles R. keysii.