203 



acute, tapering at the base to a stout petiole ■§■ to | in. long; upper 

 surface dark dull green, glabrous, finely reticulated with minute 

 sunken veins ; lower surface paler, dull, sparsely lepidote. Flowers 

 white, produced in March in a terminal cluster of as many as 

 twenty. Corolla | in. long, funnel-shaped at the base, spreading 

 at the mouth into five ovate lobes, and measuring | in. across. 

 Calyx green, 5-lobed, the lobes about ^ in. long, ovate. Stamens 

 ten, 1 in, long, much protruded beyond the corolla, filaments 

 white, downy at the base; anthers yellow; style 1^ in. long, 

 glabrous. Calyx and pedicels scaly, the latter ^ to f in. long. 



The species is allied to R. TnicranthuTn, but the flowers are 

 larger and prettier, and remarkable for the length of the much 

 exserted style. 



Rhododendron luteScens, Franchet. 



Originally discovered by the Abbe David in Mupin, Western 

 China, about 1870, this species does not appear to have reached 

 cultivation until Wilson introduced it in 1904. It is of interest 

 as one of the few yellow-flowered, evergreen rhododendrons, but 

 like most of the other species in cultivation with yellow flowers its 

 hue is pale and ineffective. Leaves lanceolate, slenderly acuminate, 

 up to 3^ ins. long, lepidote on both surfaces but especially 

 beneath. Plowers pale yellow, borne singly in the leaf-axils 

 at and near the end of the shoot. Corolla broadly funnel-shaped, 

 1 in. wide. Calyx minute, scaly; stamens ten, protruded, hairy 

 near the base; ovary lepidote; seed-vessel and pedicels both \ in. 

 long, lepidote. 



This species Appears to be widely spread in Western China, 

 and perhaps varies in hardiness. All the plants that have 

 flowered in cultivation are of Wilson's introduction, but those 

 of the Harvard Expeditions appear to be hardier than those of 

 1904, introduced for Messrs. Veitch, 



I 



Rhododendron moupinense, Franchet. 



Seeds of this pretty and distinct species were collected by 

 Wilson in China in 1908, and several plants raised from them 

 flowered in 1913 and 1914. At Kew it flowered very prettily last 

 March, at which time was made the photograph reproduced in 

 the accompanying plate. According to Wilson, it is an epiphyte, 

 and is often found growing on evergreen oaks and otlier broad- 

 leaved trees. 



A shrub up to 3 or 4 ft. high, young shoots at first pubescent. 



The leaves are very leathery, ovate, obovate, or oval, rounded 

 or slightly cordate at the base, rounded and mucronate at the 

 apex, f to 1\ ins. long, about half as wide, glabrous on the upper 

 surface except that the midrib is slightly pubescent, densely 

 covered with minute scales beneath; petiole I to |- in. long, 

 pubescent. Flowers apparently rarely more than three in a 

 cluster, the widely funnel-shaped, five-lobed corolla 2\ ins. across, 

 of a pure, glistening white with wine-coloured spots on the upper 

 side. Calyx-lobes shallow, rounded, ciliate; stamens ten, 

 pubescent near the base, anthers chocolate-coloured ; style 



exserted. 



Wilson found this rhododendron in several parts of Western 



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