Rhododendron reticulatum
is a deciduous shrub, 1.5-4m in height, inhabiting sunny forests in
coastal to hilly districts, barks being gray-black. Leaves are in a
whorl on branch tops, each blade being 2.5-7cm in length, 1.5-5cm in
width, in the shape of a broad ovate or diamond-shaped ovate. The
widest part is a bit lower than the middle
horizontal line. Flowers, light red-purple, come into bloom, before
or at the same time when the leaves develop, 1 or 2 each on the
branch tips; corollas, 3-4.5cm-in-diameter, infundibular, cleft
deeply in 5 lobes. Bloom time: March-April. |