Rhododendron cuneatum W. W. Sm.

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Credits

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

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

Genus

Synonyms

  • Rhododendron ravum Balf. f. & W. W. Sm.
  • Rhododendron cheilanthum Balf. f. & Forr.
  • Rhododendron sclerocladum Balf. f. & Forr.

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.
corolla
The inner whorl of the perianth. Composed of free or united petals often showy.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
included
(botanical) Contained within another part or organ.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.
zygomorphic
Bilaterally symmetrical. Term applied to flowers with a single line of symmetry passing through the centre (e.g. Salvia). (Cf. actinomorphic.)

Credits

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

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

Small shrub, 1–2(–4) m. Leaves 1.1–7 × 0.5–2.5 cm, narrowly to broadly elliptic; apex acute to rounded, lower surface covered with uniformly fawn or deep rust, touching or overlapping scales. Flowers up to 6 per inflorescence; calyx (2–)5–8(–12) mm; corolla rose-lavender to deep purple, often with darker flecks, rarely almost white, funnel-shaped, (12–)22–31 mm; stamens 10; ovary scaly, style decimate, pubescent towards base. Flowering March-May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  China N & W Yunnan, SW Sichuan

Habitat 3,000–3,650 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H5

Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)

An evergreen shrub of rather erect growth 4 to 6 ft high, scaly. Leaves oval, often inclined to obovate, tapered about equally to both ends; 1 to 2 in. long, 12 to 1 in. wide, dark glossy green and scaly above, dull and rusty beneath with brownish-yellow scales; stalk 16 in. long. Flowers produced in April in terminal clusters of three to six. Calyx reddish, 14 to 13 in. long, deeply five-lobed, the lobes scaly outside and fringed with bristles; flower-stalk 12 to 34 in. long. Corolla widely funnel-shaped, 1 to 112 in. long and wide, five-lobed, deep rose coloured, downy in the throat. Stamens ten, their white stalks with a tuft of down towards the base; anthers brown, well exposed. Ovary scaly; style slender, glabrous, 1 in. long. Bot. Mag., t. 9561. (s. Lapponicum)

R. cuneatum was found by Forrest in 1910 in the Lichiang range, N.W. Yunnan, growing on the margins of pine forests at 12,000 ft. His later collections are all from the drier parts of N.W. Yunnan and S.W. Szechwan, where it is apparently always found on limestone. It is at present placed in the Lapponicum series, with which it disagrees in its habit, large leaves, and in the shape of the corolla, which is funnel-shaped and zygomorphic, whereas in the Lapponicum series it is near to rotate in shape, i.e., has a tubular base abruptly widening into the limb. It is a hardy, quite pretty species, flowering in April.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

See the remarks in the second paragraph. This species is included in subsect. Lapponica in the Edinburgh revision.