''Rhododendron lanatum'' (syn. ''Rhododendron flinckii''), the woolly rhododendron, is a species of flowering plant in the family
Ericaceae
The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...
, native to the eastern Himalayas and southeastern Tibet.
Occasionally found in commerce, it is a rabbit-tolerant evergreen shrub reaching .
Hardy in
USDA zones
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
7 through 9, it is recommended as a hedge in partly shady situations.
Its young shoots and leaves are covered with a white to tawny velvety wool, giving it its scientific and common names.
May flowers are typically sulphur-yellow with maroon-spotted throats, and there is a cream-flowered morph.
References
lanatum
Flora of Tibet
Flora of East Himalaya
Plants described in 1851
{{Ericaceae-stub