Morphological, Indumentum and Chemical Characteristics and Analysis of the Volatile Components of the Flowers of Rhododendron ponticum L. subsp. ponticum (Ericaceae) of Turkish Origin §

Morphological, chemical and indumentum characteristics of Rhododendron ponticum L. subsp. ponticum collected from Bartın province have been investigated. A detailed description of the species has been prepared and compared with that published in the Flora of Turkey of Davis in a tabular form. The taxonomic and morphological characteristics of the plant material have been described and illustrated by drawings. Indumentum characteristics were also investigated. Volatiles of the flowers were trapped by a dynamic headspace SPME setup and their hexane extract were analyzed by GC/MS. Main components of the headspace trapped volatiles of flowers were characterized as α -pinene (44.5 %), β -pinene (10.8 %), linalool (4 %) and limonene (3.3 %) whereas main components in volatiles of the hexane extract were linalool (19.6 %), phenylethyl alcohol (19.1 %), myrtenol (10.1 %). citronellol (9.4 %) and phenylacetaldehyde (7.8%).