QBARS - v26n4 R. dauricum f. album

R. dauricum f. album
Hideo Suzuki, Saitama-ken, Japan

R. dauricum grows in the wilds in the northern part of Asia. In Japan it is a native of Hokkaido. R. dauricum f. album is a very rare form which is seldom found in the wild nowadays. Even people who live in the area where it grows are not aware that the white form of R. dauricum exists.

It is an interesting phenomenon that most seedlings grown of f. album bear the same white flowers as their parents. This is quite different from the case of R. mucronulatum f. album the seedlings of which seldom bear white flowers.

I have heard that a very rare form of R. dauricum which blooms white with red stripes on the lobes has been found in Hokkaido, though I have not seen it so far.

The following is the literal translation of a report provided by an enthusiast of native Hokkaido rhododendrons concerning various white forms of R. dauricum .

Among the forms now under cultivation are the following:

a.) The form that has been cultivated since pre-war days in and around Asahigawa City.

flower size - approx. 5 cm across flower color - pure white, tinted very pale yellow in the

center of the throat with conspicuous green blotches

b.) The form collected at Ikutahara, Kitami. flower size - approx. 2 cm across

flower color - pure white with no blotch

c.) The form collected at Takinoue, Kitami. flower size - approx. 2 cm across

flower color - pure white with no blotch

d.) The form collected at Ashiyoro, Tokachi. flower size - approx. 4 cm across

flower color - pure white, tinted very pale in the center of the throat with very inconspicuous blotches.

All forms described above have been collected in the Kitami and Tokachi areas. It is interesting that the white form has yet to be reported in the Kushiro and Hitaka area where the typical R. dauricum is found in abundance.