{"id":15671,"date":"2023-08-10T06:41:40","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T06:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mustila.fi\/kasvit\/rhododendron_laetevirens\/"},"modified":"2024-02-02T14:47:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T14:47:32","slug":"rhododendronlaetevirens","status":"publish","type":"kasvit","link":"https:\/\/mustila.fi\/en\/plants\/rhododendronlaetevirens\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhododendron ‘Laetevirens’"},"content":{"rendered":"
‘Laetevirens’ is an old cultivar from the early 1900s which came to Mustila about that time. It is a cross between the Carolina rhododendron (R<\/em>. carolinianum <\/em>syn. R<\/em>. minus<\/em>) and the European Alpine Rose or Rusty Leaved Alpenrose (R<\/em>. ferrugineum<\/em>). It was earlier called \u2018Wilsoni\u2019 but the name has been changed because there was already another rhododendron of this name.<\/p>\n

‘Laetevirens’ is a scaly rhododendron, one of the so-called lepidotes. It has small leaves with small \u201cspots\u201d on them, visible to the naked eye, which are actually small scales; the leaves are aromatic when rubbed or crushed. ‘Laetevirens’ is very similar to a hybrid called \u2018Puncta\u2019, offered by many nurseries, which has the same parents as ‘Laetevirens’.<\/p>\n

The small pink flowers open in late June. ‘Laetevirens’ is slow growing, reaching about a metre in ten years. Because the flowers are rather modest, this cultivar is above all a shrub for foliage, and a beautiful one. This rich foliage caused some confusion over the name at some stage, when ‘Laetevirens’ was labelled mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia<\/em>) by mistake. Now the right name identifies the right plant both at the south-east edge of Alppiruusulaakso (Rhododendron Valley) and near Atsalearinne (Azalea Slope).<\/p>\n