Description

Shrub to 1-6 m. Leaf-bud scales deciduous. Leaves ovate-elliptic, (20-)25-40 X (10—) 11 —21 mm, rounded at the base, rounded to somewhat tapered to the mucronate apex, sparsely lepidote or elepidote above, beneath pale brown with scales which are all borne ± at one level, overlapping, plastered to the surface, all with well developed domed centres and narrow, scarcely lacerate rims. Inflorescence dense, many-flowered. Pedicels pubescent, elepidote. Calyx lobes 3-4-5 mm, oblong-obovate, glabrous and elepidote outside, margin erose and with a few scales, glabrous within. Corolla white or greenish white, rarely flushed pink, tube 5-10 mm, lobes relatively small, 1-5-3 mm, scarcely overlapping, densely pilose at the throat and inside the tube. Stamens 5. Ovary lepidote, sometimes pubescent. Capsule lepidote, 4-4-5 mm

Distribution

China (Quinghai, Gansu)

Altitude

Habitat

Scrub and forest margins

Nomenclatural History

Notes

References

Cullen, J. (1980) A Revision of Rhododendron 1: Subgenus Rhododendron sections Rhododendron & Pogonanthum. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(1):163