Reinwardtia 1960. 5: 213.
WFO ID: wfo-0000400454
IPNI ID: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:332049-1
Verified by:
Shrub to 3m. Twigs 3–4mm in diameter, rounded or somewhat angled, at first sub-densely covered with flat, sub-stellate scales, later glabrescent; internodes 7–10cm. Leaves c.5 together in pseudowhorls at the upper 1–2 nodes, sub-sessile. Blade c.150 x 50–70mm, broadly elliptic to elliptic; apex shortly acuminate, sub-acute; margin flat; base broadly tapering, the extreme base sub-truncate-obtuse; upper surface glabrescent but densely, minutely, pitted; undersurface sub-densely scaly. Scales flat, thin, reddish-brown, the marginal area variously lobed; centre small, flat. Mid-vein as wide as the petiole at the base, narrowed upwards and slightly impressed above, prominent beneath; lateral veins 8–10 per side, with additional, less distinct ones between them; straight at the base, curved distally, indistinctly anastomosing along the margin, flat or faintly raised above, more distinct and raised beneath, reticulation visible above, almost obscure beneath. Petiole 1–2 x 3–4mm. Outer bracts to 20 x 10mm, ovate-acuminate, with a distinct, sharp point (3–4mm), very laxly scaly along the outer middle line or glabrous outside, densely scaly at the apex inside; inner bracts elliptic-sub-spathulate, glabrous, except scaly along the margins. Bracteoles c.20 x 1mm, filiform, sub-glabrous. Inflorescence a 6–7-flowered umbel. Pedicels 40–60 x c.1.5mm, dilated at the apex, laxly scaly, not hairy. Calyx to 3mm in diameter, oblique, a wavy rim. Corolla 75–80mm, funnel-shaped, tube yellow, lobes orange; tube 40 x 4–5 x 15mm, laxly to very laxly sub-stellately scaly outside, shortly hairy in the lower ¾ inside, straight; lobes c.40 x 25mm, obovate, spreading. Stamens unequal, the longest exserted to c.20mm; filaments linear and sub-densely hairy in the proximal ½, filiform and glabrous in the distal ½; anthers c.4 x 1.2mm, oblong, the base obtuse. Disc very prominent, white-hairy at the upper margin, glabrous below. Ovary 10–12 x 2–2.5mm, cylindrical, tapering distally, very densely scaly and laxly shortly white-hairy; style c.55mm, densely scaly and shortly hairy in the lower 2⁄3, more laxly scaly and without hairs to the apex; stigma thick, rounded, with 5 distinct, almost club-shaped lobes. Fruit cylindrical, scaly and hairy, c.80 x 3–4mm.
Papua New Guinea, Western Highlands, Jimmy Valley, Karap village.
Argent, G. (2006) Rhododendrons of subgenus Vireya. RHS:London. Page:318