Tab. 8669. 

 RHODODENDRON Hanceanum. 



Szechuan. 



Ericaceae. Tribe Rhodoreae. 

 Rhododendron, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, vol. ii. p. 599. 



Rhododendron Hanceanum, Hemsl. in Journ. Linn. Soc. vol. xxvi. p. 24 

 (1889); Hemsl. et E. H. Wils. in Kew Bull. 1910, p. 115; Behder et 

 E. H. Wils. in Sargent, PI. Wilsonianae, vol. i. p. 517 (1913) ; Bean, Trees 

 d Shrubs, vol. ii. 360, et in Kew Bull. 1914, p. 202, cum icon ; affinis 

 B. ambiguo, Hemsl., sed calyce semper bene evoluto differt. 



Frutex parvus usque ad 1 m. altus; ramuli breves, nigro-punctati, demUm 

 longitudinaliter verrucosi, apicem versus foliati. Folia ovato-lanceolata 

 vel elliptico-lanceolata, basi obtusissima vel rotundata, apice sensim et 

 acute acuminata, 4-8 cm. longa, l"5-3'5 cm. lata, rigide coriacea, supra 

 viridia, impresse reticulata et nigro-punctata, infra pallida et minute 

 lepidota ; costa supra impressa, infra prominens ; nervi laterales utrin- 

 secus 8-9, prominenter conjuncti, utrinque prominuli ; petioli 5-7 mm. 

 longi, crassi. Inflorescentia breviter racemosa, 6-9-flora ; perulae oblongo- 

 ovatae, acute acurninatae, circiter 7 mm. longae et 5 mm. latae, rube- 

 scentes, glabrae ; bracteae lineari-spatulatae, circiter 1 ' 5 mm. longae, 

 superne ciliatae ; pedicelli 1 cm. longi, lepidoto-glandulosi. Flores flavo- 

 albi. Calycis lobi oblongi, apice rotundati, 4-6 mm. longi, l'5-2 5 mm. 

 lati, mernbranacei, margine lepidoti vel ciliati. Corolla tubulosa, 5-loba ; 

 tubus 1-1 "5 cm. longus, glaber ; lobi ovato-oblongi, apice rotundati, 0'8- 

 1 cm. longi. -Stamina 10, longe exserta ; filamenta valde inaequalia, 

 usque ad 3 cm. longa, inferne pilosa ; antherae carmineae,3-5 mm. longae. 

 Ovarium 5-loculare, cylindricurn, dense lepidotum ; stylus filamentis aequi- 

 longus, gracilis, glaber, stigmate capitato 2 mm. diametro coronatus. 

 Fructus brevissimus, 0'8 cm. longus, arete lepidotus, calyce persistente 

 circumdatus, styli basi persistente coronatus. — J. Hutchinson. 



This dwarf Rhododendron is a native of Szechuan in 

 China, and was originally met with by the Rev. E. Eaber 

 on Mt. Omei in 1887. The plant figured was raised from 

 seed collected by Mr. E. H. Wilson in Western China in 

 1908, and presented to Kew by the Arnold Arboretum ; 

 this plant agrees well with the type from Mt. Omei. 

 According to Rehder and Wilson the leaves vary from 

 obovate to lanceolate or lanceolate-ovate in shape, from 

 shining to dull green above, and from densely to spar- 

 ingly lepidote. In cultivation it varies in colour, of 

 flower in different plants from creamy white to yellow. 

 A notable characteristic of the plant is the hard stiff 

 texture of its foliage. This species in its native habitat 



July, 1916. 



