Forest Rhododendron               rho-do-DEN-dron fo-REST-ee-eye

• Broadleaf evergreen shrub, groundcover, prostrate growth habit, spreading to mounding, very slow growing.  Leaves glossy dark green, rounded (obovate to orbicular), slightly puffy and wrinkled upper surface, purplish below.  Flowers tubular-bell shaped, fleshy, 4-5 cm long, bright scarlet or crimson, borne singly or in pairs.
• 0^o F, early-middle, 3/4/3  [flower / plant & foliage / performance; scale 1 (poor) - 5 (best)].
• Native to China (southeast Tibet, Yunnan), northern Burma and India (Arunachal Pradesh).
• forrestii: after George Forrest (1873-1932), Scottish plant collector who made several trips to China.