Rhododendron parryae Hutch.

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Credits

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

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

Genus

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.
ciliate
Fringed with long hairs.
glaucous
Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
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 parryae' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-parryae/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Shrub, 1.5–3 m, sometimes epiphytic; young shoots with or without setae. Leaves 6–14 × 3–6 cm, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, apex acuminate to rounded, margin lacking setae, upper surface with impressed midrib; lower surface with unequal brown scales that are 1–2× their own diameter apart. Flowers 3–5, in a loose terminal inflorescence, scented; calyx minute, ciliate; corolla white with a yellowish blotch at base, funnel-shaped, 70–85 mm, outer surface with scales throughout, pilose at base; ovary scaly, tapering into the style that is scaly below. Flowering May. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  India Arunachal Pradesh

Habitat 1,750–2,150 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H2

Awards AM 1957 (Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh); flowers white, with a yellow-orange blotch. FCC 1973 (G. Gorer, Sunte House, Haywards Heath). AGM 1993

Conservation status Least concern (LC)

Taxonomic note Material introduced from the Apa Tani Valley suggests an affinity with R. walongense, not with R. jolmstoneanum, as has been proposed by some authors. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

An evergreen shrub or small tree in the wild, sometimes epiphytic, with a pinkish-purple, peeling bark. Leaves narrowly oblong-elliptic, subacute to rounded and mucronate at the apex, 214 to 334 in. long, 118 to 134 in. wide, dark green above, glaucous green beneath, scaly on both sides, but more densely so beneath; petiole 12 in. or slightly more long, scaly. Flowers fragrant, in terminal trusses of three or four on pedicels up to 1 in. long. Calyx very small, scaly and shortly ciliate. Corolla widely funnel-shaped, up to 412 in. wide, white with a prominent orange-yellow blotch, lobes five, undulated, slightly scaly near the middle, the tube slightly scaly and downy near the base outside. Stamens ten, downy towards the base. Ovary densely scaly; style scaly in the lower half. (s. Maddenii ss. Ciliicalyx)

R. parryae was discovered by Mrs Parry, wife of an officer in the Indian Civil Service, growing on the Blue Mountain, Lushai Hills, in the south-eastern corner of Assam at 6,000 ft. She collected a fruiting specimen in February 1927, from which seeds were taken by Charles Raffill when it arrived at Kew. When a plant flowered in 1933 it proved to be a new species, which was described by Dr Hutchinson in that year (Gard. Chron., Vol. 93, p. 386).