R. polytrichum

Rhododendron Species

Subgenus	Hymenanthes
Section	Pontica
Subsection	Fortunea
Introduced	1500
Origin	China
Epiphytic/Terrestrial	terrestrial
Mature Wild Height	250 cm. (8ft.)
Bloom Time	early
Flower	broadly funnel-shaped
Flower Color	white
Fragrance	Highly-Scented
Leaves	elliptic to oblanceolate
Leaf persistence	Evergreen
Type	Elepidote
Plant Hardiness	-15 C (5 F)
Flower Bud Hardiness	?
Additional Hardiness Info	probably significantly hardier
Extra Information	Very fragrant, hairy foliage, bristly petiole and strikingly bristly, bronzy new foliage

Title R. polytrichum Photo By Harold Fearing Date Taken April 24, 2020 Location Fearing's Farm Nursery, Abbotsford, BC, Canada License CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution Text: Harold Fearing via Rhododendra.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 Sizes small 768 x 1070, 39 KB medium 1600 x 2228, 144 KB Full 3396 x 4728, 3.5 MB
Title R. polytrichum Photo By Harold Fearing Date Taken May 2, 2018 Location Fearing's Farm Nursery, Abbotsford, BC, Canada License CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution Text: Harold Fearing via Rhododendra.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 Sizes small 768 x 560, 18 KB medium 1600 x 1168, 63 KB Full 4970 x 3626, 2.7 MB
Title R. polytrichum Photo By Harold Fearing Date Taken May 2, 2018 Location Fearing's Farm Nursery, Abbotsford, BC, Canada License CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution Text: Harold Fearing via Rhododendra.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 Sizes small 768 x 526, 16 KB medium 1600 x 1094, 57 KB Full 5294 x 3620, 2.9 MB
Title R. polytrichum Photo By Harold Fearing Date Taken April 28, 2020 Location Fearing's Farm Nursery, Abbotsford, BC, Canada License CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution Text: Harold Fearing via Rhododendra.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 Sizes small 768 x 1142, 54 KB medium 1600 x 2378, 208 KB Full 3038 x 4516, 3.2 MB
Title R. polytrichum Photo By Harold Fearing Date Taken April 21, 2020 Location Fearing's Farm Nursery, Abbotsford, BC, Canada License CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution Text: Harold Fearing via Rhododendra.com, CC BY-SA 4.0 Sizes small 768 x 1024, 45 KB medium 1600 x 2136, 199 KB Full 3336 x 4452, 3.9 MB Description Buds
Title polytrichum Photo By Peter Norris Date Taken May 9, 2025 Location Martha's Vineyard, MA z7a License CC BY 4.0 Attribution Text: Peter Norris via Rhododendra.com, CC BY 4.0 Sizes small 768 x 1024, 79 KB medium 1512 x 2016, 265 KB Full 1512 x 2016, 823 KB Description Large, fragrant flowers, bristly stems, petioles w ephemeral hairs on leaf surface