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Rhododendron ‘Taurus’               ('Jean Marie de Montague' × R. strigillosum)

• Broadleaf evergreen shrub, 6 ft (1.8 m), upright, vigorous.  Often buds are red.  Leaves forest green, pointed, about 18 cm long.  Flowers glowing red, with black speckling on upper petal, campanulate (bell-shaped), 9 cm across, about 16 per ball-shaped clusters (trusses).
• -5^o F, early-mid, 4-5/4/4 [flower / plant & foliage / performance; scale 1 (poor) - 5 (best)].   Best if protected from afternoon sun.
• Released in 1972, hybridizer Mossman.
• ‘Grace Seabrook’ is very similar to ‘Taurus’, both are from crosses of 'Jean Marie' × R. strigillosum.  Greer (1996) states that the flowers of these two cultivars "are so much alike, you cannot tell them apart".  He points out that the difference between these plants is most noticeable in the green leaf and growth buds of ‘Grace Seabrook’, whereas the buds of ‘Taurus’ are usually red.  Others say that the big difference between the two cultivars is the mature height of the plants, with ‘Taurus’ reaching 6 ft (1.8 m) tall, whereas ‘Grace Seabrook’ grows to 4 ft (1.2 m) tall.
• Oregon State Univ.campus: south side Cascade Hall.