Rhododendron smirnowii Trautv.

TSO logo

Sponsor

Kindly sponsored by
Peter Norris, enabling the use of The Rhododendron Handbook 1998

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Rhododendron smirnowii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-smirnowii/). 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.
article
(in Casuarinaceae) Portion of branchlet between each whorl of leaves.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
glandular
Bearing glands.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
relict species
Species that has survived unchanged from a previous age (a ‘living fossil’) or become geographically isolated from related species due to a change in circumstances.
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 smirnowii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhododendron/rhododendron-smirnowii/). Accessed 2024-03-19.

Shrub or small tree, 1–4 m; young shoots and petioles densely whitish-lanate-tomentose, sometimes also with a few scattered glands; bud scales deciduous. Leaves 7.5–11.5(–14) × 2.5–3.2 cm, oblanceolate to elliptic; apex usually rounded, upper surface glabrous, lower surface covered with a dense white to cinnamon lanate indumentum composed of dendroid hairs. Flowers 7–15, in a dense truss; calyx 2–3 mm; corolla pink, with yellowish flecks, funnel-campanulate, nectar pouches lacking, 35–40 mm; ovary densely white-strigillose, eglandular, style glabrous. Flowering May-June. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

Distribution  GeorgiaTurkey NE

Habitat (500–)1,500–2,300 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H6

Awards AM 1991 (E. de Rothschild, Exbury) to a clone 'Vodka'; trusses with 16-18 flowers, corolla shading from white deep in throat to red-purple along lip and strongly down each lobe, upper throat heavily marked with yellow-green.

Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)

Taxonomic note Allied to R. ungernii but distinguished by the non-glandular ovary. Royal Horticultural Society (1997).

A sturdy evergreen shrub 4 to 12 ft high in cultivation, usually wider than it is high, but described in the wild as a tree-like shrub 15 to 20 ft high; young shoots thick, and clothed with a soft white felt. Leaves narrowly oblong, tapered at the base, blunt at the apex, 4 to 7 in. long, 1 to 2 in. wide, thick and leathery, dark green, soon becoming glabrous above; lower surface covered with a thick, soft felt, at first almost pure white, finally pale brown; stalk 14 to 34 in. long. Flowers produced during May or June in fine trusses 4 to 6 in. through; pedicels 1 to 112 in. long, slightly downy. Calyx very small, with five rounded lobes. Corolla bright purplish rose 2 to 3 in. across, broadly funnel-shaped, the five rounded lobes with beautifully frilled margins. Stamens ten, downy at the base. Ovary clad with white wool; style glabrous. Bot. Mag., t. 7495. (s. Ponticum ss. Caucasicum)

Native of north-east Asiatic Turkey, especially around Artvin on the river Coruh, where it reaches to the tree-line; it is not certain whether it also occurs in bordering parts of Russia. It was discovered by Baron Ungern-Sternberg in 1885 and introduced to Kew the following year by way of St Petersburg. The species is distinct in the very thick white felt on the lower surface of its leaves, resembling in this respect R. ungernii and species of the Argrophyllum subseries of the Arboreum series. It is perfectly hardy, and would be more valued if it had come from China. Some plants distributed as P. smirnowii are R. ungernii.

R. smirnowii and R. ungernii are of botanical interest as relict species, more closely allied to east Asiatic rhododendrons than to their neighbours. R. ponticum and R. caucasicum.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

This species does occur in Russia (cf. the second paragraph on page 773). See the article by M. S. Alexandrova in Rhododendron Notes and Records, Vol. 1 (1984), pp. 137–46, for this species and R. ungernii.