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Rhododendron subansiriense D.F. Chamb. & P.A. Cox

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Peter Norris, enabling the use of The Rhododendron Handbook 1998

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New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron subansiriense' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-subansiriense/). Accessed 2025-01-18.

Genus

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

flush
Coordinated growth of leaves or flowers. Such new growth is often a different colour to mature foliage.

Credits

New article for Trees and Shrubs Online.

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron subansiriense' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-subansiriense/). Accessed 2025-01-18.

Rhododendron subansiriense

Rhododendron subansiriense at Deer Dell, Surrey, UK. 13 April 2022. Image John Anderson.

Shrub or tree, up to 14 m; bark smooth and peeling; young shoots apparently tomentose. Leaves 7–10.5 × 2–3.5 cm, oblong, base more or less rounded, upper surface glabrous, lower surface with epidermis lacking papillae, with numerous red punctate hair bases on the veins, each with the vestige of fasciculate hairs, otherwise glabrous; petioles glabrous. Flowers up to 15, in a dense truss; calyx 4–5 mm, cupular; corolla fleshy, scarlet, with a few purple flecks, tubular-campanulate, with nectar pouches, up to 40 mm; ovary densely tomentose, lacking glands, style glabrous. Flowering April. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

Distribution  India Arunachal Pradesh

Habitat 2,600–2,800 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H5

Conservation status Critically endangered (CR)

This species is at present only known from the Subansiri district in NE India. In cultivation it produces a very early leaf flush that is often affected by late frosts. While it will grow outside in Britain it rarely flowers. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

Rhododendron subansiriense

Rhododendron subansiriense foliage with young leaves flushed bronze at Deer Dell, Surrey, UK. 13 April 2022. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron subansiriense

Rhododendron subansiriense C&H 418 at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 13 April 2022. Image John Anderson.

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