Genus Rhododendron Acquires New Species
'Arctic Tern' may be a rhododendron after all. Researchers Dr. Walter Judd (University of Florida), a specialist in rhododendrons, and Dr. Katherine Kron (University of North Carolina) have placed all species of
Ledum
within the genus
Rhododendron
.
This recent development was reported in the October 1990 Rhododendron Species Foundation Newsletter based on information from
Douglasia
, the newsletter of the Washington Plant Society. Dr. Judd and Dr. Kron have used sophisticated comparative techniques to show that if the genus
Ledum
were included in the genus
Rhododendron
, then the later genus would include all descendants of a common ancestor. Thus it appears that the Northwest may have two new native rhododendron species:
Rhododendron groenlandicum
and
Rhododendron glandulosum
.