Large evergreen shrubs or small trees with smooth and peeling reddish bark. Smooth, very “rhododendron-looking” leaves which can be up to one foot in length. The widely bell-shaped, often fragrant flowers (mid- to late spring) are some of the largest and most spectacular in the genus. They are pure white to white blushed rose and up to three inches long by six inches across. A stunning ornamental plant with attractive bark and really amazing flowers. The parent of many excellent hybrids (yes hybrids can be pretty nice sometimes) including the ‘Loderi’ grex. Needs a protected site for best performance, quite vigorous if happy and can be grown in a container for many years in colder climates. Native to forests in the eastern Himalayas from 6,000 to 9,500 ft.
1980/099BEN(+20).Flowers are pink fading to white.
1981/115SMI.B(+20).A clone grown from seen collected in Sikkim by Britt Smith.
1997sd488SEH#501:RSBG(+10?\R1\6).My own collection from 6,900 ft. in the West Bengal, Indian Himalaya.
1997sd509SEH#523:RSBG(+10?\R1\6).Grown from seed collected wild at 8,850 ft. in the Sikkim Himalayas. The magnificent widely bell-shaped flowers of pure white to white flushed rose are often fragrant and among the largest of the genus.Add attractive foliage and beautiful smooth peeling bark and you have an outstanding species.
1997sd519SEH#523:RSBG(+10?\R1\6).My own collection from 8,850 ft. in a different region of the Sikkim Himalaya where many of the plants had pink-flushed flowers.
586sd2003Grown from our collection of seed at 7,750 ft. in W Arunachal Pradesh, India – a relatively unexplored region from which this species has very rarely been collected. Really amazing flowers.(+10\R1\7)
