- Broadleaf evergreen shrub or tree, 6-30 ft (~2-10 m) tall, Leaves oblong to oblong lanceolate,
up to 30 cm long and 3-12 cm wide, apex broadly obtuse or rounded, base rounded or auriculate (auricle - an
ear-like appendage), upper surface dull dark green, vein deeply impressed, underside pale green, hairy and
glandular with isolated, long, thread-like white or brownish hairs. Flowers funnel-shaped to 10 cm
long, white to occasionally rosy pink, greenish blotch at the base of tube, fragrant, 14- or 16 unequal
stamen, calyx 5-6 lobed; 7-15 flowers in loose clusters.
- 0°F, very late (even into August), 4/4/4. [flower / plant & foliage / performance; scale
1 (poor) - 5 (best)] Native to China, eastern Sichuan, western Hubei, eastern Guizhou.
Discovered by Augustine Henry in 1885 in western Hubei provence and described 4 years later.
- auriculatum: eared, a reference to the ear-like basal lobes of the leaf blade.
- Federway, Washington: Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden