2015 The Rhododendron

• Date: 5th March 2016

President’s Report

This is my first President’s Report. My predecessors Neil Webster and Rob Hatcher each served the maximum of three terms. But they were, and still are, younger than me by a good few years. I had intended to be a one term president but I have been persuaded to add a second.
In October last year I set myself three objectives:
Furthering the North Queensland Project of obtaining properly provenanced samples of Australia’s native rhododendrons from their mountaintop habitats both to enable DNA analysis and to establish ex situ collections of them at Olinda, Mount Lofty and Emu Valley to further the study of these plants.
Revising ARS Rules.
Re-establishing Emu Valley as a branch and encouraging Blackheath to become a branch.

Contents
Editorial · Barry Stagoll..........................................................................3
President’s Report · Simon Begg...........................................................3
Reports – Australian Rhododendron Groups .................................. 5
The genus Rhododendron in New Guinea – A new neotype for
R. gardenia and a new species, R. cravenii · Frédéric Danet....... 12
Conserving in cultivation – a case study using R.konori · Andrew Rouse ...................27
Singalila Ridge trek · Jacki and Robert Hatcher............................... 35
Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol ..... 41
Building a “Rouse House” · John O’Hara ............................................ 45
New registrations 2014–2015 · Lesley Eaton.......................................47
Australian Rhododendron Society contact information..................56