Rhododendron lochiae
- PLANT TYPE Vireya
- PLANT SUB-TYPE Species
- COLOUR Red
- SIZE 1-2m
- FRAGRANT No
- SUN TOLERANT Yes
- ATTRACTIVE FOLIAGE No
Rhododendron lochiae is one of two Australian endemic species, the other is R. viriosum. The image shown was taken on Bells Peak, a high range above 1,000m south of the Barron River in North Queensland. The flowers in this population were profuse, large and with up to 12 flowers per umbel. There are 10 mountain tops that have isolated Vireya populations and each population looks quite distinct from the other populations. A current ARS project is developing an ex situ display of the the accessions and researching morphological changes over time, when grown in the same location under the same horticultural conditions.
