Rhododendron ochraceum SEH#080
This red-flowered species is considered by many to be one of the finest of the myriad of new Rhododendron introductions in the modern era of plant hunting. It was introduced into general cultivation in 1995 when Peter Cox and I found it in the Jin Pin Mountains of southern Sichuan Province, China, not far from the Yangtze River.
There were only about four small plants found growing on top of a giant boulder in an untouched, deep valley full of exciting and new plants (see the description for R. huianum). Since then it has flourished in cultivation and is often seen in species collections where its bright red flowers stand out in the mid-spring woodland garden. This species is closely related to another, much more familiar species known as R. strigillosum. It differs from its well-known cousin in being of smaller stature with a thick pale brown indumentum on the lower surface of the much smaller leaves. In addition, it flowers much later in the season so that the flowers are not so often lost to early spring frosts as are the flowers of R. strigillosum.
This species can be observed in the RSBG along the main road across from the Big-Leaf Garden.