Rhododendrons

Rhododendron zoelleri
Vireya Subgenus:
Euvireya Section
Euvireya Subsection
Epithet: after Hugo Zoller, leader of the first expedition to the Finisterre Mountains, New Guinea, in 1891.
Introduced into cultivation: 1939 at Kew.
Flowers: up to 8 per complete or slightly open umbel, funnel-shaped, 60 x 90mm, enlarging with age, usually with a yellow tube and broad orange margins to the lobes so that the flower appeasr with a yellow star in the throat, sometimes scented, tube 30-45 x 5-8 x 20-27mm.
Jan - Dec
Foliage: broadly elliptic to elliptic, 70-160 x 40-80mm, 3-6 in tight pseudowhorls.
Tree or shrub to 10m, terrestrial.
Distribution (Sea-level - 2000m):
Indonesia & Papua New Guinea:
widespread; Maluku: W. Seram: Ora Mts
With its large, falmboyant flowers it has long been one of the most popular New Guinea rhododendrons in cultivation. It requires more heat than most species.