ARS Victoria Newsletter – December 2015

• Date: 25th February 2016
• author: Francis Crome

Another new species
A new species of the Maddenia section has been described from Arunachel Pradesh in northern India. Rhododendron pseudomaddenii A.A.Mao & M.Bhaumik was discovered by two Indian botanists when plant hunting the Tale valley in the lower Subansisri district in 2009 and subsequently in 2011 in West Siang district. It was published this year in the Edinburgh Journal of Botany. It is a small shrub up to 1.5 m tall growing epiphytically, on rocks or in the ground in “semi dense” forest at 1900 – 3000 m. It differs from R. maddenii in having a solitary pink white flower and lacks a groove in the petiole.

The reference is Mao, A. A. and Bhaumik, M. 2015. Rhododendron pseudomaddenii (Ericaceae), a new species from India. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 72(2): 209-213.