Rhododendron kiusianum 'Zakura'

Taxonomy

Physical Description

Family Ericaceae:

Plants usually woody, or herbs, sometimes lacking chlorophyll. Leaves spiral, sometimes decussate, margin often toothed. Inflorescence racemose; bracteoles paired, basal. Flowers (4 or) 5-merous. Calyx imbricate. Corolla connate, imbricate. Stamens 10, sometimes with spurs or awns, dehiscing by pores, pollen in tetrads, rarely single. Ovary superior or inferior, placentation axile, rarely parietal, often many ovules per locule. Style ± as long as corolla, slender. Fruit a capsule or berry, rarely a drupe; calyx persistent.

About 125 genera and 4000 species: widely distributed in temperate and subarctic regions, also at high elevations in tropical regions; 22 genera and 826 species (524 endemic) in China.

The Monotropoideae are here included in the Ericaceae; previously in FRPS (56: 157 216. 1990), they were treated as the Pyrolaceae. Chiogenes, recorded from China in FRPS (57(3) : 69 71. 1991), is here included in Gaultheria. Over the last half century, the Empetraceae have usually been separated from, but closely associated with, the Ericaceae. In their ecology, leaf morphology and insertion, rusts, embryology, stamen anatomy, etc., they largely agree with that family. Molecular data place Empetrum and its relatives firmly within the Ericaceae, and in particular within the subfamily Ericoideae, in agreement with phytochemical and palynological data, and there they are best recognized as a separate tribe. There are distinctive features of the Empetreae that were responsible for their past familial status, e.g., reduced perianth with separate members, low ovule number, enlarged stigmas, etc. However, these are likely to be derived features associated with wind pollination. See Kron et al. (Bot. Rev. 68: 335 423. 2002) and the recent treatment of the Ericaceae by Stevens et al. (in Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 6: 145 194. 2004) .

Several genera and many species are ornamentals. Some fruits of Vaccinium in N China are sweet and edible, but of no particular value to humans. Some species of Chamaedaphne, Craibiodendron, Leucothoë, Lyonia, Pieris, and Rhododendron contain more or less toxic diterpenes, which are harmful to humans or domestic animals.^[1]

Genus Rhododendron:

Shrubs or trees, terrestrial or epiphytic, with various hairs, and/or with peltate scales or glabrous, indumentum sometimes detersile (the hairs tangled and coming away as a layer) . Leaves evergreen, deciduous or semideciduous, alternate, sometimes clustered at stem apex; margin entire, very rarely crenulate, abaxial indumentum sometimes with a pellicle (a thin skinlike layer on the surface) . Inflorescence a raceme or corymb, mostly terminal, sometimes lateral, few- to many-flowered, sometimes reduced to a single flower. Calyx persistent, 5-8-lobed, sometimes reduced to a rim, lobes minute and triangular to large and conspicuous. Corolla funnelform, campanulate, tubular, rotate or hypocrateriform, regular or slightly zygomorphic, 5(-8) -lobed, lobes imbricate in bud. Stamens 5-10(-27), inserted at base of corolla, usually declinate; filaments linear to filiform, glabrous or pilose towards base; anthers without appendages, opening by terminal or oblique pores. Disk usually thick, 5-10(-14) -lobed. Ovary 5(-18) -locular, with hairs and/or scales, rarely glabrous. Style straight or declinate to deflexed, persistent; stigma capitate-discoid, crenate to lobed. Capsule cylindrical, coniform, or ovoid, sometimes curved, dehiscent from top, septicidal; valves thick or thin, straight or twisted. Seeds very numerous, minute, fusiform, always winged, or both ends with appendages or thread-like tails.

About 1000 species: Asia, Europe, North America, two species in Australia; 571 species (409 endemic) in China.^[2]

Images:

Distribution

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Shade garden. Woodland area. • Care: Apply Holly-tone in early spring and after flowering. Amend poorly-drained soils with fine-grade mulch.

Growth

Soil: Soil: Needs acidic, well-drained, organic soil.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Part sun to part shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Rhododendron:

There are approximately 8,308 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: R. borneense angustissimum · R. brookeanum gracile · R. dalhousiae tashii · R. edanoi pneumonanthum · R. floccigerum appropinquans · R. henanense lingbaoense · R. javanicum brookeanum · R. javanicum schadenbergii · R. mariae kwangsiense · R. orbiculare oblongum · R. przewalskii chrysophyllum · R. przewalskii huzhuense · R. ririei leiboense · R. scabrum amanoi · R. simiarum youngae · R. tomentosum subarcticum · R. trichocladum nepalense · R. yakusimanum makinoi · R. '851C' · R. 'A. Gilbert' · R. 'A.J. Ivens' · R. 'Abbot' · R. 'Abe Arnott' · R. 'Abegail' · R. 'Abendrot' · R. 'Accent' · R. 'Accomplishment' · R. 'Achilles' · R. 'Actress' · R. 'Ada Brunieres' · R. 'Adamant' · R. 'Addy Wery' · R. 'Adelaide' · R. 'Admiral Piet Hein' · R. 'Adonis' · R. 'Adorable' · R. 'Adriaan Koster' · R. 'Adriaan Koster' × wardii var. wardii Litiense Group · R. 'Advance' · R. 'Aeolus' · R. 'Agamujin' · R. 'Ageeth' · R. 'Agemaki' · R. 'Agnes Beaufort' · R. 'Agnes Lamont' · R. 'Agnes Lamont' × lacteum · R. 'Agnes Mangles' · R. 'Agnes' · R. 'Ahren's Favourite' · R. 'Aida' (Aida Rustica Flora Pleno Hybrid Azalea) · R. 'Aileen O'Rourke' · R. 'Ailsa Jean' · R. 'Aioi' · R. 'Airy Fairy' · R. 'Aizen-no-tsuki' · R. 'Akebono-ryukyu' · R. 'Aksel Olsen' · R. 'Aladdin' (Aladdin Azalea) · R. 'Aladdin's Jinni' · R. 'Alan Campbell-Johnson' · R. 'Alan Stockman' · R. 'Albacore' · R. 'Albarello' · R. 'Albatross Townhill Pink' · R. 'Albatross Townhill White' · R. 'Albatross' · R. 'Albert Schweitzer' · R. 'Album Elegans' (Album Elegans Rhododendron) · R. 'Album' · R. 'Alcesta' · R. 'Alena' · R. 'Alessandro Volta' · R. 'Alex Hill' · R. 'Alexander' · R. 'Alexandra Gordon' · R. 'Alfred' · R. 'Alice de Stuers' · R. 'Alice Gilbert' · R. 'Alice Hennessy' · R. 'Alice Mangles' · R. 'Alice Martineau' · R. 'Alice Street' · R. 'Alice' · R. 'Alight' (Alight Azalea) · R. 'Alisa Nicole' (Vireya Rhododendron) · R. 'Alison Johnstone' · R. 'Alix' · R. 'All-a-Glow' · R. 'Allegory' (Allegory Azalea) · R. 'Allen's Surprise' · R. 'Allure' (Allure Glenn Dale Azalea) · R. 'Aloha' (Deciduous Azalea) · R. 'Alpine Dew' · R. 'Alpine Gem' · R. 'Alpine Glow' · R. 'Altaclerense' · R. 'Always a Lady' · R. 'Alyssa Nori' · R. 'Amaghasa' (Rhododendron) · R. 'Amalfi'

Bibliography

• Chou Yiliang & Zhou Ruichang. 1990. Pyrolaceae. In: Fang Wenpei & Hu Wenkuang, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 56: 157216
• Fang Rhuicheng, Yang Hanbi & Chin Tsenli. 1999. Ericaceae (1). In: Fang Rhuicheng, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 57(1): 1213
• Hsu Tingzhi, Gao Baochun, Fang Rhuicheng & Huang Shuhua. 1991. Ericaceae (3). In: Fang Rhuicheng, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 57(3): 1207
• Hu Wenkuang, Hu Lincheng, Fang Mingyuan & He Mingyou. 1994. Ericaceae (2). In: Hu Lincheng, Fang Mingyuan, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 57(2): 1438
• Ming Tien lu. 1980. Empetraceae. In: Cheng Mien & Ming Tien lu, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 45(1): 6062.

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Notes

Contributors:

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 19, 2007.

Identifiers:

• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1034507

Footnotes:

1. Mingyuan Fang, Ruizheng Fang, Mingyou He, Linzheng Hu, Hanbi Yang, Haining Qin, Tianlu Min, David F. Chamberlain, Peter Stevens, Gary D. Wallace & Arne Anderberg "Ericaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 14 Page 242. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. Fang Mingyuan, Fang Ruizheng, He Mingyou, Hu Linzhen, Yang Hanbi, David F. Chamberlain "Rhododendron". in Flora of China Vol. 14 Page 260. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.