QBARS - v34n2 R. kyawii

R. kyawii
Arthur W. Headlam, Bentleigh, Australia

R. kyawii , Series Irroratum, Subseries Parrishil is a magnificent rhododendron originating in Burma and Yunnan at altitudes from 6-12,000 feet.

Its large leaves up to twelve inches long by as much as four inches broad are bright green and rather bullate above and pale green below, and make a very attractive background for the bright scarlet tubular campanulate flowers of usually about twenty' to the truss.

There are several plants in the National Rhododendron Garden at Olinda where they are of interest, not only for their striking color, but also for their late flowering habit, often in January and occasionally as late as February, our last month of summer, in fact, they are usually the last rhododendron in the garden to flower and mark the end of another flowering season.

Because of their late flowering characteristics they require sitting where they are protected from late afternoon sun and hot winds and these conditions have been achieved by planting them along the western side of the garden which is adequately sheltered by a stand of Mountain Ash ( Eucalyptus regnans ), which reach a height of from 200 to 250 feet.