88 JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM (vol. v 



Rhododendron sutchuenense Franchet in Jour, de Bot. ix. 892 



(1895).— Hemsley & Wilson in Kew Bull. Misc. Inform. 1910, 112.— Hem- 

 sley in Bot. Mag. cxxxvi. t. 8362 (1911).— Schneider, 111. Handb. Laub- 

 holzk. ii. 1045, fig. 615, f-g (1912).— Rehder & Wilson in Sargent, PL 

 Wilson. I. 544 (1913).— Bean, Trees & Shrubs Brit. Isles, n. 382 (1914). 

 Rehder in Bailey, Stand. Cycl. Hort. v. 2940 (1916).— P. D. Williams in 

 Rhod. Soc. Not. i. 39 (1916).— Millais, Rhodod. 249, t. facing p. 16 

 (1917).— McDouall in Gard. Chron. ser. 3, lxvii. 172 (1920); lxxi. 227, 

 fig. 118 (1922).— Mottet in Rev. Hort. 1922, 150, fig. 50, t.— S. W. P. in 

 Garden, lxxxvii. 159, fig. (1923). — Osborn in Gard. Chron. ser. 3, lxxiii. 

 171, fig. 78 (1923); in Garden, lxxxvii. 523, fig. (1923). 



Rhododendron praevernum Hutchinson in Gard. Chron. ser. 3, lxvii. 127 

 (1920).— Garden, lxxxiv. 115, fig. (1920).— Army tage Moore in Rhod. 

 Soc. Not. ii. 77 (1922).— Osborn in Gard. Chron. ser. 3, lxxiii. 159, fig. 

 74 (1923); in Garden, lxxxvii. 521, fig. (1923). 



Bush from 3 to 8 m. tall with many stout, ascending-spreading branches 

 clothed when young with a gray scurf; winterbuds stout, subglobose to 

 broadly ovoid, glabrous. Leaves tufted, coriaceous, oblong-oblanceolate, 

 without petiole 10-25 cm. long, 3-7.5 cm. wide, rounded, apiculate, base 

 cuneate, upper surface dark green, lower pale green, glabrous except the 

 midrib on lower surface which is clad more or less densely with pale gray, 

 floccose tomentum; petiole stout, flattened, 1-3 cm. long, often slightly 

 winged. Flowers from 10 to 20 in a terminal, dense, umbellate raceme; 

 rhachis 1-2.5 cm. long, pedicels stout, ascending-spreading, 1-2.5 cm. 

 long, glabrous; calyx oblique, annular, minutely toothed, glabrous; 

 corolla 5-lobed, pink to rosy lilac, campanulate, 5-7.5 cm. deep, 6-8 cm. 

 wide, lower part of tube pubescent within blotched or spotted with dark 

 red-purple on the posterior part, lobes broad, spreading, rounded, emar- 

 ginate; stamens 14-18, of unequal length, shorter than corolla, filaments 

 flattened, lower third puberulous, anthers oval, very dark; pistil glabrous, 

 overtopping stamens but shorter than corolla, ovary ovoid, style stout, 

 thickened upward, slightly curved; stigma red, capitate. Fruit brownish 

 purple, oblique, oblong, 3-4 cm. long, 1-1.5 cm. wide, furrowed; seed shin- 

 ing brown, flattened, oblong, 5 mm. long, with prominent wing. 



This is the most arborescent of the Hupeh species and is well distin- 

 guished by its stout branches, its large leaves, glabrous except the midrib 

 on the lower surface, its many-flowered umbellate inflorescence and by 

 its bell-shaped, 5-lobed corolla. It is a noble Rhododendron, wide-spread 

 in western Hupeh and eastern Szechuan and common between elevations 

 of from 4500 to 7600 ft. It is always found in mixed woods often growing 

 under the shade of evergreen Oaks and among Arundinaria nitida Mitford 

 and other thin-stemmed Bamboos. In fact it shares with R. auriculatum 

 Hemsl. a greater love for shade than other Hupeh Rhododendrons. The 

 leaves are tufted at the end of the branches, large, dark green often 

 attenuate at the base and though the habit of growth is splendid the 



