1925] WILSON, THE RHODODENDRONS OF EASTERN CHINA 177 



spreading, almost at right angles or very slightly ascending, branching; 

 petiole 0.5-1.5 cm. long, glabrous. Flowers in fascicles clustered round 

 end of shoot, fascicles lateral, 1 -flowered; pedicels 2.5-3.5 cm. long, 

 glabrous; calyx glabrous, annular, 5-toothed, teeth unequal and variable, 

 triangular and acute or membranous and elongated (oblong), 2-4 mm. 

 long; corolla apparently pink, funnelform-campanulate, about 5.5 long 

 and broad, deeply 5-lobed, tube narrow, lobes spathulate to obovate, 

 rounded; stamens 10, rather shorter than corolla, filaments flattened 

 and villose in lower half; anthers oval; pistil glabrous, equaling the sta- 

 mens in length, ovary cylindric, 0.8-1 cm. long, furrowed, style mod- 

 erately stout, stigma capitate. Fruit not seen. 



Habitat: Liukiu Islands, Yaeyama. Formosa, woodlands from 100 to 2660 m. 

 altitude. 



This species is distinguished from the closely related R. Tanakai 

 Hayata by its glabrous winter-buds and calyx and by its rather smaller 

 flowers. The species, however, are very near kin. In Formosa R. 

 leiopodum Hayata is found scattered through the mixed hardwood 

 forests from a few hundred feet above sea-level in the north to an altitude 

 of 8000 ft. in the south. On Arisan in the central part of the island it 

 grows in rocky places in the Chamaecyparis and Tsuga forests. Though 

 wide-spread it is nowhere common. It is a large bush or even small 

 tree with long rigid branches and of rather open habit. I saw it growing 

 in many places but neither in flower nor fruit. My description is drawn 

 from flowering specimens collected on Arisan and at Uraisha in Taihoku 

 province by S. Sasaki. The variation in size of the calyx is marked but 

 this phenomenon is found among other members of its class and also in 

 other species widely removed. Hayata emphasizes the pallid under 

 surface of the leaves but I find this inconstant. 



This species was discovered on Yaeyama, the southernmost large 

 island of the Liukiu Archipelago, by Y. Tashiro in 1887. Maximowicz 

 had some of the material and considered it the same species as one from 

 western Fokien. On this mixed material is based R. ellipticum Maxim, 

 but the description, mainly at least, is based on the Chinese plant which 

 unfortunately is not represented in any herbarium in this country. It 

 may be that Maximowicz was correct in his view but the floras of Formosa 

 and eastern China are not closely related, the affinity being in the western 

 part of China. On this ground I think it safer to accept Hayata's name 

 for the insular species. 



Hayata based his R. leiopodum on material collected on Bahozan in 

 Bioritzu Prefecture by Messrs. T. Kawakami and U. Mori in 1906. 

 On the mountains of Ako Prefecture, in the south of Formosa, T. Kawa- 

 kami in 1007 collected other material. On this Hayata based his R. 

 leptosanthum, which he distinguishes by its having smaller flowers and 

 ovate-oblong leaves. I have before me a specimen of this plant named 

 by Hayata, and can find no difference between it and material I have 

 of typical R. leiopodum. 



