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Rhododendron widjajae Argent & Mambrasar
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A new species of Rhododendron section Schistanthe (= subgenus Vireya) is described, Rhododendron widjajae Argent & Mambrasar. It is compared with the two most similar species and the differences demonstrated.
Key words: Ericaceae, Indonesia, Mt. Mekongga, new species, Rhododendron, Sulawesi.
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| Rhododendron widjajae Argent & Mambrasar, spec. nov.
Photograph of the living plant from type location.
Photo: Elizabeth A. Widjaja.
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Rhododendron widjajae Argent & Mambrasar, spec. nov.
Diagnosis. Similar to Rhododendron pseudobuxifolium Sleumer in its size of flower. It differs in having twigs which are without the short hairs of that species; in having pedicels without simple hairs and the corolla is sparsely scaley outside not glabrous and glabrous inside, not shortly hairy. Superficially similar to R. celebicum (Blume) DC. but smaller and significantly differing from that species by the hairy filaments and ovary.
Habitat and ecology. Mt. Mekongga is a volcanic peak rising to 2,779 m in the north-west part of South East Sulawesi. This new species was collected in the sub-alpine area at 2,658 m asl. which is close to the summit (2,779 m). This area is described as: jagged limestone karst and the Rhododendron was probably an epiphyte. The associated species have not been recorded but will no doubt have been semi-open dwarf shrubs.
Etymology. Named in honour of Prof. Elizabeth A. Widjaja, former senior researcher at the Herbarium Bogoriense and joint collector of this species for her contribution to Indonesian botany.
George Argent and Yasper Michael Mambrasar. 2019. Rhododendron widjajae (Ericaceae, Section Schistanthe) A New Species from Sulawesi. Reinwardtia. 18(1); 27‒30. DOI: 10.14203/reinwardtia.v18i1.3700
