Pukeiti

Family: Ericaceae (Heath)

Life form: Tree - evergreen

Comments: Habit: A tall very vigorous shrub or tree to 6m x 8m.
Foliage: Leaves dark green with thin brown indumentum visible below, narrow elliptic, 170 x 45mm.
Flowers: Full umbel of 24, broad funnel shape, pink in bud opening white with crimson purple spots and crimson nectaries. Early (September) flowering. Flowers well in both the sun and the shade.
Cultivation information: A hardy plant which tolerates a range of conditions. Available from rhododendron nurseries in New Zealand.
Further information: There is much confusion over the background of this old hybrid from 1850's. R campanulatum is stated to be seed parent but some think it must be R. ponticum. However it flowers well before any ponticum hybrids. A plant in NZ labelled Triomphe de Grande appears to be the same as Boddaertianum.