A Note on Rhododendron mekongense - 2l New Species Record from Sikkim Himalaya, India

摘要

Rhododendron has the greatest number of species in the family Ericaceae. The highest rhododendron diversity is found in the Northern Hemisphere along the southern Himalayas east into SW China, i.e., in Nepal, Bhutan, NE India, NE Burma, southeast Tibet, W Szechuan and NW Yunan. The total number of Rhododendron species worldwide is estimated to be approximately 1200 (Paul et al. 2005); China has the highest number of species (571) in the world, of which about 409 are endemic (www. eFloras.org).