Rhododendrons

Rhododendron lindleyi
Maddenia subsection
H2-3
Height: to 4.5m, a straggly shrub.
Flowers: 2-12, commonly 3-7 flowered, loose, open funnel-campanulate, 70-116mm long, white, white with yellow/orange base, sometimes tinged pink, sweetly scented; flower buds large and rouded.
Late April - May.
Leaves: 55-120 x 15-55mm, narrowly elliptic to oblong elliptic, rarely somewhat obovate, lower surface greyish-green with distant reddish-brown scales.
Introduced: c1850, reintroduced 1965.
Distribution: E. Nepal east to Arunchal Pradesh, SE Tibet and Manipur. 1,800 - 3,400m, usually epiphytic in trees and on cliffs.
R. lindleyi is one of the most spectacular Maddenia species and it is widely grown in milder gardens.