542 WILSON EXPEDITION TO CHINA 



Western Szech'uan : Mupin, woodlands, alt. 2600-3000 m., June 

 and October 1908 (No. 1209=^; bush 2-2.5 m. tall, flowers pure white); 

 in the neighborhood of Taehien-lu, thickets, alt. 2600-3300 m., June 

 and September 1908 (No. 1209; bush 1-2 m. tall, flowers white or 

 pale rosy-pink); same locality, uplands, alt. 3000-3300 m., October 

 1910 (No. 4257; bush 1-2.5 m. tall); same locality, alt. 2600-3600 m., 

 June and October 1904 (Veitch Exped. No. 3975 and seed No. 1782). 

 Yunnan: Mengtze, grassy mountains, alt. 2000 m., A. Henry 

 (Nos. 9155, 9155^). 



Rhododendron decorum is one of the most widely distributed of the Chinese Rho- 

 dodendrons and with the material before us we cannot distinguish it from the plants 

 here considered to be the same. The Tachien-lu form on which R. Spooneri Hemsley 

 & Wilson was based, has smaller loaves than the type, but there are many inter- 

 mediate forms. Rhododendron lucidum Franchet is identical with R. Spooneri. The 

 thick, coriaceous, shining leaves, more straggling habit and unspotted flowers chiefly 

 distinguish this species from R. Fortunei Lindley. 



Group g. 

 Corolla 7-9-lobed. Leaves glabrous, cuneate at the base. 



Rhododendron discolor Franchet in Jour, de Bot. IX. 391 (1895). — 

 Hemsley & Wilson in Kew Bull. Misc. Inform. 1910, 112. 



Rhododendron mandarinorum Diels in Bot. Jahrb. XXIX. 510 (1900). 



Western Hupeh: north and south of Ichang, woodlands, alt. 

 1600-2150 m., June and October 1907 (No. 586, in part; bush 2-4 m. 

 tall, flowers white to rosy-pink); Changlo Hsien, woods, alt. 1600- 

 2300 m., June 1907 (No. 586, in part; bush 3 m. tall, flowers pink); 

 Hsing-shan Hsien, woods, alt. 1600-2150 m., June 1907 (No. 586, in 

 part; bush 3-6 m. tall, flowers white); Changyang Hsien, woodlands, 

 alt. 1500-2000 m.. May 1907 (No. 586, in part; bush 2.5-4 m. tall, 

 flowers deep pink with dark blotch); without precise locality, June 

 and October 1900 (Veitch Exped. Nos. 2154, 1077; flowers only). 

 Szech'uan: south Wushan Hsien, woods, alt. 1600-1800 m., June 

 1907 (No. 586, in part; bush 2-5 m. tall, flowers white); Nanch'uan, 

 A. von Rosthorn (No. 2156). 



This is the common Rhododendron of the woods up to alt. 2300 m. in western 

 Hupeh. The larger, triangular calyx-lobes, larger, differently shaped flowers and 

 narrower, usually acute leaves distinguish it from the closely related R. Fortunei 

 Lindley. The pedicels are usually glabrous but occasionally sparsely glandular 

 as they are described in R. mandarinorum Diels and we can find no character by 

 which to separate this latter plant from the typical R. discolor Franchet. 



