Rhododendron macrophyllum |
Rhododendron tomentosum |
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big leaf rhododendron, California rhododendron, California rose bay, coast rhododendron, Pacific rhododendron, western rhododendron |
Labrador tea, marsh Labrador tea, northern Labrador tea, trappers tea |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, to 5 m, sometimes rhizomatous. | Shrubs, to 0.5 m, rhizomatous. |
Stems | bark smooth to vertically furrowed, shredding; twigs with basally branched, crisped/matted, eglandular hairs, very quickly glabrate. |
creeping or prostrate; bark ± smooth; twigs unicellular-hairy and with flattened, glandular scales, scales often obscured by dense, ferruginous, long-crisped, multicellular hairs. |
Leaves | persistent; petiole glabrous; blade elliptic to slightly ovate or obovate, (6–)8.5–14(–20) × 2.5–5.5(–7.5) cm, thick, coriaceous, margins entire, plane to revolute, glabrous, apex acute to obtuse or slightly acuminate, surfaces scattered eglandular-hairy (hairs branched basally, crisped, very quickly deciduous), abaxial surface ± smooth. |
persistent, (fragrant when crushed); petiole with unicellular and/or peltate scales and, sometimes, ferruginous, long-crisped hairs; blade ± linear, 2–5 × 1–4 cm (often much longer than wide), coriaceous, margins entire, revolute, glabrous, apex acute, abaxial surface with sparse to dense, glandular-peltate scales without broad rim, scales often obscured by dense (to sparse), ferruginous, long-crisped, multicellular hairs sometimes forming dense, ± uniform mat, adaxial surface rugose with scattered, lepidote scales and sometimes also with white, unicellular hairs along impressed midrib, midrib usually lanate. |
Inflorescences | 10–20-flowered; bracts similar to bud scales. |
slightly rounded, 10–35-flowered; bracts lepidote abaxially, margins ciliate, long-crisped-hairy, sometimes also unicellular-hairy. |
Pedicels | 30–60 mm, glabrous. |
5–26 mm, sparsely eglandular-hairy (hairs ferruginous, elongated), with ferruginous, long-crisped, unicellular and/or peltate scales, sometimes also long-stalked, multicellular glandular-hairy. |
Flowers | opening after development of leaves (of flowering shoots), erect to horizontal, fragrant; calyx lobes 1–1.5 mm, glabrous, except margins eglandular- and stipitate-glandular-hairy; corolla white to pink or rose-purple, with yellowish green spots on upper lobe, broadly campanulate, 24–48 mm, outer surface glabrous, petals connate, lobes 14–30 mm, tube gradually expanding into lobes, 10–23 mm; stamens 10, included, ± unequal, 16–37 mm. |
radially symmetric, opening after leaves (of flowering shoots), ± erect, not fragrant; calyx lobes ca. 1 mm, outer surface densely to sparsely unicellular-hairy (hairs tan), and multicellular, stipitate-glandular-hairy (hairs red) on margins; corolla white to cream, without blotch, ± rotate, 2–8 mm, inner surface often densely unicellular-hairy, petals appearing distinct or only slightly connate basally, lobes 5–7 mm; stamens 10, exserted, ± equal, 4.4–8.5 mm. |
Capsules | borne on erect pedicels, 13–25 × 4–7 mm, eglandular-hairy (hairs ferruginous, branched or unbranched) and, often, stipitate-glandular-hairy. |
borne on apex of sharply recurved pedicels, 2.5–5 × 1–3 mm (only slightly longer than wide), with sparse to dense, lepidote scales, acropetally dehiscent. |
Seeds | without distinct tails, flattened portion of testa well developed at each end; testa expanded, dorsiventrally flattened, loose. |
somewhat elongated beyond narrow ends; testa closely appressed. |
Floral | bud scales multicellular eglandular-hairy (hairs branched basally), and unicellular-hairy (hairs short to elongate) abaxially, margins eglandular-hairy (hairs branched). |
bud scales with lepidote scales and unicellular-hairy abaxially, margins unicellular-hairy. |
2n | = 26. |
= 26, 52. |
Rhododendron macrophyllum |
Rhododendron tomentosum |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–summer. | Flowering spring–summer. |
Habitat | Forest and forest margins, thickets | Bogs, muskeg, tundra, raised beach ridges |
Elevation | 50-1600 m (200-5200 ft) | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR; WA; BC
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AK; AB; BC; MB; NF; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Europe; Asia
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Discussion | Rhododendron macrophyllum, R. maximum, and R. catawbiense represent subg. Hymenanthes (Blume) K. Koch in North America; the subgenus is represented by hundreds of species in temperate eastern Asia and is characterized by its branched, eglandular hairs (D. F. Chamberlain 1982). These showy plants are frequently used as ornamentals. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 462. | FNA vol. 8, p. 459. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Ericoideae > Rhododendron | Ericaceae > subfam. Ericoideae > Rhododendron |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. californicum | Ledum palustre, Ledum decumbens, Ledum palustre subsp. decumbens, R. subarcticum, R. tolmachevii, R. tomentosum subsp. decumbens, R. tomentosum var. subarcticum |
Name authority | D. Don ex G. Don: Gen. Hist. 3: 843. 1834 , | Harmaja: Ann. Bot. Fenn. 27: 204. (1990) |
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