Tas. 8802. 
RHODODENDRON oOLEIFOLIUM. 
Yunnan. 
ErtcackazE. Tribe RHopOREAE. 
RuopopenDron, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 599. 
Rhododendroni oleifolium, Franch. in Bull. Soc. Bot. France, vol xxxiii. 
p. 235 (1886); Hemsl. in Journ. Linn, Soc. vol. xxvi. p. 28 (1889); Millais, 
Rhodod. p. 220 (1917); species R. racemoso, Franch., affinis sed foliis 
lanceolatis vel oblongo-lanceolatis, corollae tubo extra basin versus molliter 
pubescente, stylo inferne lepidoto differt. 
Frutex nanus usque ad 0°75 m. altus, superne laxe ramosus; caulis cinereo- 
stramineus, glaber; ramuli annotini ferruginei, minute lepidoti, hornotini 
dense lepidoti. Folia laxa, lanceolata vel oblongo-lanceolata, utrinque 
acuta vel basi subobtusa, 2-5-6 cm. longa, 0°8-1°7 cm. lata, chartacea, 
supra primum lepidota, mox glabra et opaca, viridia, infra subglauca, 
lepidota, squamis carnosis parvis paulo magis diametro suo distantibus ; 
costa supra’ immersa, infra prominens; nervi laterales utrinsecus 8-10, 
infra prominuli; petiolus 3-4 mm. longus, lepidotus. lores axillares, 
solitarii vel bini; gemmae floriferae anguste ellipsoideae, sub anthesin 
circiter 1 cm. longae, squamis brunneis dorso elepidotis superioribus 
minutissime ciliolatis; pedicelli brevissimi, vix ultra squamas exserti, 
dense lepidoti. Calya 5-lobus, lobis ovato-triangularibus obtusis 2 mm. 
longis basin versus extra parce lepidotis. Corolla rosea, tubulosa, 2°5-3 em. 
longa, 5-loba; tubus 1°5 em. longus, apice 1-1°3 cm. diametro, superne 
lepidotus, basin versus elepidotus sed molliter pubescens; lobi late ovati, 
apice rotundati, circiter 1-1'5 cm. longi, dorso dense lepidoti. Stamina 
10, corollae tubo longiora ; filamenta complanata, basin versus pubescentia ; 
antherae 38 mm. longae. Ovariwm 5-loculare, dense lepidotum; stylus 
corolla subaequilongus, basin versus lepidotus et parce pubescens, 
stigmate quinquelobulato magno coronatus. Capsula 1em. longa, ferru- 
gineo-lepidota.—J. HurTcuHrnson. 
The Ahododendron now figured was first met with by 
the Abbé Delavay, between 1883 and 1885, on the 
mountain Tsang-chan, overlooking Tali in Yunnan, at 
about 6,700 feet above sea-level, and was described by 
Mr. Franchet in 1886 as 2. oleifolium. It was met with 
again in 1906 by Mr. George Forrest, on the eastern 
flank of the Tali range, Lat. 25° 40’ N., in open alpine 
pastures at altitudes of 8—10,000 feet, as a dwarf shrublet 
a foot. to two and a half feet high, with blossoms varying 
in colour from white to pale rose. The plant from which 
our illustration was made was raised at Kew under glass, 
from seed obtained from Messrs. Bees, Limited, early in 
1915. It flowered in May, 1917, when only two years old, 
Aprit-June, 1919, . 
