Vasilis Teodoridis:
2. Rhododendron sect. Choniastrum Franchet; Bull. Soc. Bot. France 33: 229. 1886.
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Shrubs or small trees; evergreen; branches glabrous or glandular setose. Inflorescence axillary or terminal; 1–7-flowered; corol-la funnelform to campanulate; stamens 10; style as long as or longer than stamens. Capsule oblong-cylindric or cylindric; glabrous or puberulent; rarely glandular setose; style contiguous and valved on upper part when mature. Seeds with short-caudate appendages at both ends; ornamented.
Rhododendron latoucheae Franchet; Bull. Soc. Bot. France 46: 210. 1899.
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Rhododendron amamiense Ohwi; R. ellipticum Maxi-mowicz (1888); not Hoffmannsegg (1826); R. ellipticum Maxi-mowicz var. leptosanthum (Hayata) S. S. Ying; R. latoucheae var. amamiense (Ohwi) T. Yamazaki; R. latoucheae var. ionan-thum (W. P. Fang) G. Z. Li; R. leiopodum Hayata; R. leptan-thum Hayata (1915); not F. Mueller (1889); R. leptosanthum Hayata; R. tanakae Hayata; R. wilsoniae Hemsley & E. H. Wil-son; R. wilsoniae var. ionanthum W. P. Fang.
Shrubs or small trees; 2–7 m tall; shoots stout. Petioles to 15 mm; glabrous; leaf blade narrowly elliptic-lanceolate oblan-ceolate or ovate-elliptic; 5–11(–13) x 1.4–5.5 cm; base cuneate to broadly cuneate; margin slightly revolute; apex acuminate; both surfaces glabrous; midrib impressed adaxially; obsolete abaxially; lateral veins net-veined; slightly prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence subapical; 1(–2)-flowered. Pedicel stout; 2–3 cm; glabrous; calyx lobes obscure or fine and triangular; rarely linear; then to 10 mm; margin and apex finely ciliate; co-rolla funnelform; pink to white; 3.5–4.8 cm; lobes long-ovate; glabrous; emarginate; stamens 10; included in tube or partly ex-serted; filaments flat; puberulent below middle; ovary cylindric; truncate below insertion of style; 3.5–8 x 0.2–0.4 mm; dark brown; glabrous; style 4–8 cm; exserted; glabrous. Capsules cyl-indric; ca. 40 x 4 mm; style deciduous. Fl. Mar–May; fr. Sep–Oct.
Mixed forests; rocky mountain slopes; 100–2700 m. Anhui; Fuji-an; Guangdong; Guangxi; Guizhou; Hubei; Hunan; Jiangxi; Sichuan; Taiwan; Zhejiang [Japan (including Ryukyu Islands)].
Gao Lianming (pers. comm.) notes that field observations indicate that the degree of calyx development and the size of the leaves are vari-able; even within a single population. There is therefore no justification for maintaining Rhododendron ellipticum Maximowicz as distinct from R. latoucheae (and anyway the former name cannot be used because it is an illegitimate later homonym).
Vasilis Teodoridis:
2. Rhododendron sect. Choniastrum Franchet; Bull. Soc. Bot. France 33: 229. 1886.
????? chang rui du juan zu
Shrubs or small trees; evergreen; branches glabrous or glandular setose. Inflorescence axillary or terminal; 1–7-flowered; corol-la funnelform to campanulate; stamens 10; style as long as or longer than stamens. Capsule oblong-cylindric or cylindric; glabrous or puberulent; rarely glandular setose; style contiguous and valved on upper part when mature. Seeds with short-caudate appendages at both ends; ornamented.
Rhododendron latoucheae Franchet; Bull. Soc. Bot. France 46: 210. 1899.
??? xi shi hua
Rhododendron amamiense Ohwi; R. ellipticum Maxi-mowicz (1888); not Hoffmannsegg (1826); R. ellipticum Maxi-mowicz var. leptosanthum (Hayata) S. S. Ying; R. latoucheae var. amamiense (Ohwi) T. Yamazaki; R. latoucheae var. ionan-thum (W. P. Fang) G. Z. Li; R. leiopodum Hayata; R. leptan-thum Hayata (1915); not F. Mueller (1889); R. leptosanthum Hayata; R. tanakae Hayata; R. wilsoniae Hemsley & E. H. Wil-son; R. wilsoniae var. ionanthum W. P. Fang.
Shrubs or small trees; 2–7 m tall; shoots stout. Petioles to 15 mm; glabrous; leaf blade narrowly elliptic-lanceolate oblan-ceolate or ovate-elliptic; 5–11(–13) x 1.4–5.5 cm; base cuneate to broadly cuneate; margin slightly revolute; apex acuminate; both surfaces glabrous; midrib impressed adaxially; obsolete abaxially; lateral veins net-veined; slightly prominent on both surfaces. Inflorescence subapical; 1(–2)-flowered. Pedicel stout; 2–3 cm; glabrous; calyx lobes obscure or fine and triangular; rarely linear; then to 10 mm; margin and apex finely ciliate; co-rolla funnelform; pink to white; 3.5–4.8 cm; lobes long-ovate; glabrous; emarginate; stamens 10; included in tube or partly ex-serted; filaments flat; puberulent below middle; ovary cylindric; truncate below insertion of style; 3.5–8 x 0.2–0.4 mm; dark brown; glabrous; style 4–8 cm; exserted; glabrous. Capsules cyl-indric; ca. 40 x 4 mm; style deciduous. Fl. Mar–May; fr. Sep–Oct.
Mixed forests; rocky mountain slopes; 100–2700 m. Anhui; Fuji-an; Guangdong; Guangxi; Guizhou; Hubei; Hunan; Jiangxi; Sichuan; Taiwan; Zhejiang [Japan (including Ryukyu Islands)].
Gao Lianming (pers. comm.) notes that field observations indicate that the degree of calyx development and the size of the leaves are vari-able; even within a single population. There is therefore no justification for maintaining Rhododendron ellipticum Maximowicz as distinct from R. latoucheae (and anyway the former name cannot be used because it is an illegitimate later homonym).