Rhododendron bureavii
Common name:
Bureau Rhododendron
Pronunciation:
rho-do-DEN-dron bew-REEV-ee-i
Family:
Ericaceae
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Broadleaf evergreen shrub, slow growing to 4 ft (1.2 m) (10 years), may reach 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4m), in the wild a tree to 20 ft (6 m), small branches are stout with the same rusty coating as the underside of leaves. Leaves broad-elliptic to ovate, 7-12 cm long and 2.5-5 cm wide, dark green, slightly rugose (wrinkled), underside has woolly indumentum, pink when young, becoming richly rusty red; petiole thick, about 2 cm long. Flowers funnel-campanulate shaped, about 5 cm long, white or rose, sometimes with purple or crimson markings, calyx deeply divided into 5 obtuse, lobes.
- -10°F, mid, 3/5/4 [quality rating of flower / foliage & plant / performance, based on a 1(poorest) to 5 (best) scale].
- Best in shade, needs very good drainage.
- Native to China; western Yunnan Province. Discovered by Pere Delavay in 1896.
- bureavii: after Edouard Bureau (1831-1918), French botanist.
- Oregon State Univ. campus: Hort Garden, east side.
Click image to enlarge
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flower cluster and leaves, April
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flower and leaf underside (indumentum)
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emerging leaves, May
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plant habit, early summer
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leaves, early summer
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mature leaves
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mature leaves, underside (indumentum)
