Rhododendron • シャクナゲ • 石楠花 • shakunage
Edited 5/27/18: – added common name (from RHS, see link below), and added current pic (not much changed in the garden in that area since 2013)
Other common names: great white rhododendron
It blooms right now in May, and being the tallest rhododendron in area B (20′) it is easily identifiable; best viewed from the Tateuchi Room patio, from where the flowers (which appear white from this distance, although the Plant List describes them as ‘corolla pink shade’) create sharp contrast to reds of burgundy lace maple growing behind it, and the lace-feaf maple in front of it.
SJG • 5/11/18 – Rhododendron decorum hybrid • Rhododendron; Area B, corolla pink shade. Viewed from main path.
SJG • 5/17/13 – Rhododendron decorum hybrid • Rhododendron; Area B, 20′ tall, ‘corolla pink shade’. Viewed from TCR patio.
SJG • 5/17/13 – Rhododendron decorum hybrid • Rhododendron; Area B, ‘corolla pink shade’ – flower and leaves
From wikipedia: Rhododendron decorum (大白杜鹃) is a rhododendron species native to Myanmar and Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang, and Yunnan, China, where it grows at altitudes of 1000–3300 meters. It is a shrub or small tree that grows to 1–6 m in height, with leathery leaves that are oblong, oblong-ovate or oblong-elliptic, 5–19 by 3–11 cm in size. Flowers are white to pale pink.
Synonyms: None recorded. […]
From Plants of Tibet: […] Shrubs or small trees, 1-6 m tall; young shoots greenish, glabrous. Petiole 12-40 mm, glabrous; leaf blade thickly leathery, oblong, oblong-ovate or oblong-elliptic, 5-19 (-30) cm long, 3-11 cm wide; base cordate or cuneate to nearly rounded; apex obtuse, rounded, apiculate; both surfaces glabrous when mature; abaxial surface pale green; adaxial surface deep green, midrib prominent abaxially, grooved adaxially; lateral veins 18-paired. Inflorescence 8-10-flowered; rachis 20-25 mm, sparsely glandular. […] corolla funnel-campanulate, fragrant, white to pale pink, 3-10 cm long, 5-9 cm wide, outer surface sparsely glandular, inner surface puberulent at base; lobes 6-8 […]
Habitat: Growing in forests, thickets; 1000-3300 m. […]
From the Royal Horticultural Society, 2018: […] Details: R. decorum is a large evergreen shrub or small tree, to 6m tall, with oblong leaves to 15cm long, pale beneath, and trusses of large, strongly-fragrant, funnel-shaped white or pink-tinged flowers, greenish-yellow in the throat, in late spring and early summer […]
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