Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 5: 215 (1912).
WFO ID: wfo-0001048894
IPNI ID: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:331936-1
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Shrub or small tree, 3-12m. Leaves elliptic-obovate to oblong, 6-16 x 2-4.5cm, (2.5-)3-4 x as long as broad, apex acuminate to acute, base ± cuneate, margin not undulate, upper surface glabrous when mature, lower surface ± glabrous, with a few red punctate hair-bases overlying the veins;petioles l-2cm, glabrescent. Inflorescence dense, 10-15-flowered; rhachis 5-10mm; pedicels 10-15mm, sparsely rufous-tomentose. Calyx l-2mm, glabrous to stipitate-glandular. Corolla 6-7-lobed, tubular-campanulate, with nectar pouches, glabrous within, rose-magenta to crimson, occasionally magenta-blue or pale peach, with a variable amount of crimson flecks, with or without a basal blotch, 30-45mm. Ovary usually glabrous, occasionally with a few rufous hairs; style glabrous. Capsule 20-25 x c.5mm.
China (Yunnan, SE Xizang), NE Upper Burma
Open rocky slopes, deciduous woodland, etc.
R. eritimum Balfour f. & W. W. Smith, Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinb. 27: 190 (1917). Type: China, E NW Yunnan, mountains of the Chungtien Plateau, 9000ft, iii 1914, Forrest 12416 (holo. E; iso. BM). R. hylothreptum Balfour f. & W. W. Smith, ibid. 27: 195 (1917). Type: China, E NW Yunnan, summit of the Sungkwei Pass, 11000- 12000ft, v 1910, Forrest 5848 (holo. E; iso. K). R. gymnogynum Balfour f. & Forrest, Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 13: 47 (1920). Type: China, W Yunnan, Shweli/Salween divide, 11000ft, v 1918, Forrest 17495 (holo. E; iso. K). R. heptamerum Balfour f. in Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 13: 48 (1920). Type: NE Upper Burma, above Hpimaw, 8500-9000ft, iv 1919, Forrest 17827 (holo. E; iso. K). R. chawchiense Balfour f. & Farrer, Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 13:247 (1922). Type: NE Upper Burma, Chawchi Pass, 10500ft, 15 v 1920, Farrer 1552a (holo. E; iso. K). R. persicinum Handel-Mazzetti, Akad. Wiss. Wien Math.-Naturwiss. KL, Anz. 60: 97 (1924). Type: China, NW Yunnan, in montium inter Dali et Hodjing, silvis temperatis jugi Dsuningkou, 3050-3350m, 27 v 1915, Handel-Mazzetti 6549 (iso. A, E).
Chamberlain, D.F. (1982) A Revision of Rhododendron II. Subgenus Hymenanthes. Notes From the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(2):303