Description
Tsusiophyllum –
There is a sole species of a dwarf, semi evergreen shrub in this genus. It naturally occurs in woodlands in Japan. It produces a mass of fine twigs clothed with ½” long, deep green oval leaves. It is grown for it’s small, tubular bell shaped white flowers, borne in late spring and early summer, and is an attractive addition to a woodland garden.
Grow in moist, humus rich, acidic soil in partial shade. Provide shelter from cold, drying winds.
T. tanakae – Rhododendron tsusiophyllum – This prostate, spreading shrub from Japan grows 12-20″ tall and 8″ wide. From hairy branches it produces alternate ovate to lance shaped, very hairy, dark green leaves, to 1 1/4″ or more long with glaucous undersides. Dense clusters of 2-6 silky hairy tubular to bell shaped white flowers, up to ½” long, each with 4 or 5 spreading petal lobes, are produced at the shoot tips in early summer.
Zones 6-8
