JARS v45n2 - Genus Rhododendron Acquires New Species

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 .