X.C.I Merrill: New or Noteivorthy Philippine Plants, XI 55 



A characteristic species distinguishable by its fruit being one-third 

 superior, the rounded upper part of the fruit as wide as the calyx in its 

 thickest part, protruding above the persistent calyx-teeth. The plant 

 somewhat resembles Vaccinium jagori Warb. in vegetative characters, but 

 has larger, longer petioled leaves. 



RHODODENDRON Linnaeus 



RHODODENDRON LEYTENSE sp. nov. § Vireya ? 



Frutex epiphyticus, subglaber, ramis ramulisque teretibus; 

 foliis eoriaceis, alternis vel subverticillatis, oblongis vel oblongo- 

 ellipticis, usque ad 7 cm longis, utrinque angustatis acutisque, 

 supra nitidis, subtus lepidotis, nervis lateralibus utrinque cir- 

 citer 8, tenuibus, obscuris; floribus terminalibus, in umbellis 

 sessilibus dispositis, bracteis involucrantibus caducis, oblongis, 

 acuminatis, circiter 2.5 cm longis ; corolla flava, 4 cm longa, late 

 tubuloso-campanulata. 



An epiphytic, nearly glabrous shrub, the branches and branch- 

 lets terete, grayish or reddish-brown, smooth, the ultimate ones 

 about 2.5 mm in diameter. Leaves alternate or subverticillate, 

 coriaceous, oblong to oblong-elliptic, 4 to 7 cm long, 1.5 to 3 

 cm wide, subequally narrowed to both the acute base and apex, 

 or the base sometimes a little decurrent-acuminate, brownish 

 when dry, the upper surface glabrous, shining, the lower some- 

 what paler, and with numerous, but not densely arranged, brown 

 lepidote scales; lateral nerves slender, obscure, about 8 on each 

 side of the midrib ; petioles 1 to 1.5 cm long. Inflorescence ter- 

 minal, the flowers in sessile umbels, in bud quite enclosed by im- 

 bricate bracts, the bracts caducous, brown when dry, glabrous, 

 shining, oblong, acuminate, about 2.5 cm long, the bracteoles 

 narrow. Flowers yellow, usually 4 or 5 in each umbel, their 

 pedicels pubescent, about 1 cm long in anthesis, twice as long 

 in young fruit. Calyx obsolete, represented by a mere thicken- 

 ing of the apex of the pedicel. Corolla broadly tubular-cam- 

 panulate, yellow, about 4 cm long, the tube broad, about 2 cm 

 long, the lobes broadly elliptic to obovate, rounded, 1.3 to 1.5 

 cm wide. Stamens 9 or 10, the filaments slender, a little un- 

 equal ; anthers oblong, obtuse, 3 mm long. Ovary rather densely 

 pubescent, cylindric, elongated, narrowed upward into the style 

 which is pubescent below and glabrous above; stigma with 5, 

 stout, broad, obtuse lobes. 



Leyte, Mount Ibuni, back of Dagami, Bur. Sci. 15252 Ramos, August 

 23, 1912, growing in the tops of trees. 



A rather characteristic species, among the Philippine forms perhaps 

 most closely allied to Rhododendron kochii Stein, although entirely different 

 fr«m that species in many details of its leaves, and in the color and 

 character of its flowers. 



