wrote:

sorry to post but I think you may be interested in checking
http://www.photoshelter.com/user/sithean

Today I was sent to take photograph of a Rhododendron tuhanensis, one
of the world's rarest plants, presented at the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Edinburgh...apparently is nearly extinct!

Great photos. It was found in Kinabalu, Malaysia, probably the richest
single site for the tropical vireya Rhododendrons. This area has
probably been better explored for plants than anywhere else. And yet,
just a few years ago, on Kinabalu an American botanist Todd Barkman was
doing ecological work on the Serpentine flora, and he discovered in this
very inhospitable, extremely steep and unstable area a rhododendron
species. He really was not very sure what it was since it doesn't key
out. Lo and behold, he was perfectly right. It was very small with thick
leathery leaves with absolutely black stems growing in a miserable place
on a landslip, usually enveloped in cloud and mist. It's an
extraordinary species, and it's a brand new species, from Kinabalu, and
only about 15 minutes climb (or scramble) off the main trail. Since
much of this area is inaccessible, it is not know how wide spread the
species is distributed.
--
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Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
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Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA Zone 6