Rhododendron 



ERICACEAE 



Rhododendron 



Key to the Genera 



A. Ovary superior: fr. a capsule. 



B. Capsule septicidal: fls. large: anthers exserted 1. Rhododendron 



BB. Capsule loculicidal: fls. smaller; anthers included. 

 Anthers awned. 



Awns of the anthers upright; fls. in racemes or umbels: 

 lvs. rounded or obtuse at the tips, crowded at the 



ends of the brs 2. Enkianthus 



Awns of the anthers reflexed; fls. in terminal panicles: 



lvs. ovate-acuminate, scattered 3. Pieris 



Anthers not awned; fls. in axillary clusters 4. Lyonia 



AA. Ovary inferior: fr. a berry-like drupe crowned by the persistent 



calyx lobes 5 - Vaccinium 



1. Rhododendron Linn. Rose Bay tt||M (Tu Chuan Shu; 



Goatsucker Genus) 



Shrubs or small trees with alternate mostly entire lvs. and large showy slightly 

 irregular usually 5-merous fls. in terminal umbel-like clusters; stamens 5-10; anthers 

 exserted, opening by apical pores; ovary superior: fr. a 5-10-celled septicidally de- 

 hiscent woody many-seeded capsule. Over 400 species in the cold and temperate 

 regions of the northern hemisphere, and in the high mountains of tropical Asia and 

 Malaysia; 220 species in China. (From the Greek rhodon, rose; and dendron, tree; 

 the ancient name of Neriutn Oleander.) 



Key to the Species 

 a. Lvs. evergreen, coriaceous. 



Lvs. glabrous: capsules furrowed longitudinally. 



Lvs. 3-6 cm. long, ovate-lanceolate: corolla 5-lobed: capsule 



curved 1 . 



Lvs. 7-17 cm. long, oblong-elliptic: corolla 7-lobed: capsule 



obliquely attached at base, but not curved 2. 



Lvs. puberulous on midrib and petiole, ovate, 4-5 cm. long: 



corolla 5-lobed: capsule bristly, ovoid 3. 



aa. Lvs. deciduous, more or less pubescent. 



b. Fls. and lvs. from the same bud; fls. purple, rose-colored, red 

 or white, not yellow. 

 Brts. glabrous or villose, but without flat setose hairs: fls. 

 pale purple or rose-colored; calyx deciduous: capsule short- 



cylindric, gray- or brown-pubescent 4 . 



Brts. covered with flat setose hairs. 



Fls. white; calyx glandular-hairy: capsule conic-ovoid, 



shorter than the persistent calyx 5. 



Fls. red; calyx covered with long rusty-brown flat hairs, 

 not glandular: capsule ovoid, setose, with persistent 



calyx at base 6 . 



bb. Fls. yellow, from the terminal bud: lvs. from lateral buds: 

 calyx persistent, pubescent and bristly-ciliate, but not 

 glandular: capsule cylindric-oblong, furrowed longitudinally, 

 finely pubescent or nearly glabrous 7. 



R. anhiveiense 



R. fortunei 



R. ovatum 



R. mariesii 



R. mticronatum 



R. simsii 



R. molle 



1. Rhododendron anhweiense Wils. 

 East-central China; locally in An. 



(AAJ. 6:163). 

 Woodland . 



Shrub with stout brs.; fr. VIII. 



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