Rhododendron tomentosum |
Rhododendron prunifolium |
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Labrador tea, marsh Labrador tea, northern Labrador tea, trappers tea |
plumleaf azalea |
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Habit | Shrubs, to 0.5 m, rhizomatous. | Shrubs or trees, to 5(–6) m, usually not rhizomatous. |
Stems | creeping or prostrate; bark ± smooth; twigs unicellular-hairy and with flattened, glandular scales, scales often obscured by dense, ferruginous, long-crisped, multicellular hairs. |
bark smooth to vertically furrowed, shredding; twigs glabrous. |
Leaves | 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. |
deciduous; petiole usually multicellular eglandular-hairy and unicellular-hairy; blade ovate to obovate, 3–11(–15.2) × 1–4(–5) cm, thin, membranous to chartaceous, margins entire, plane, ciliate, eglandular-hairy, apex acute to obtuse, often mucronate, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial surface glabrous or, rarely, sparsely scattered eglandular-hairy. |
Inflorescences | slightly rounded, 10–35-flowered; bracts lepidote abaxially, margins ciliate, long-crisped-hairy, sometimes also unicellular-hairy. |
4–7-flowered; bracts similar to bud scales. |
Pedicels | 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. |
5–12 mm, eglandular-hairy. |
Flowers | 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. |
opening after development of leaves, erect to horizontal, not fragrant; calyx lobes 1–3(–4) mm, glabrous or sparsely unicellular-hairy, margins eglandular-hairy; corolla red to orange-red or orange, with indistinct darker blotch on upper lobe, funnelform, 36–53 mm, glabrous or very sparsely long stipitate-glandular-hairy, sometimes also sparsely unicellular-hairy on outer surface, petals connate, lobes 11–22 mm, tube abruptly expanded into lobes, 23–35 mm (± equaling or much longer than lobes); stamens 5, much exserted, ± unequal, 64–84 mm. |
Capsules | 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. |
borne on erect pedicels, 15–22 × 4.5–7 mm, densely, stiffly eglandular-hairy and sparsely unicellular-hairy. |
Seeds | somewhat elongated beyond narrow ends; testa closely appressed. |
without distinct tails, flattened portion of testa well developed at each end; testa expanded, dorsiventrally flattened, ± loose. |
Floral | bud scales with lepidote scales and unicellular-hairy abaxially, margins unicellular-hairy. |
bud scales glabrous abaxially, margins unicellular-ciliate. |
2n | = 26, 52. |
= 26. |
Rhododendron tomentosum |
Rhododendron prunifolium |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–summer. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Bogs, muskeg, tundra, raised beach ridges | Shady forests, especially ravines along streams |
Elevation | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) | 30-200 m (100-700 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AB; BC; MB; NF; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Europe; Asia
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AL; GA
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Discussion | Of conservation concern. Rhododendron prunifolium is most closely related to R. flammeum, R. cumberlandense, and R. calendulaceum, and can be distinguished from all of those orange- to red-flowered species by its nearly glabrous and more gradually expanded corolla tube and by the indistinct nature of the floral blotch (K. A. Kron 1993). This species is federally protected. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 459. | FNA vol. 8, p. 470. |
Parent taxa | Ericaceae > subfam. Ericoideae > Rhododendron | Ericaceae > subfam. Ericoideae > Rhododendron |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Ledum palustre, Ledum decumbens, Ledum palustre subsp. decumbens, R. subarcticum, R. tolmachevii, R. tomentosum subsp. decumbens, R. tomentosum var. subarcticum | Azalea prunifolia |
Name authority | Harmaja: Ann. Bot. Fenn. 27: 204. (1990) | (Small) Millais: Rhododendrons, 230. 1917 , |
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