Description

Creeping, prostrate or decumbent shrublet up to 60 cm (-1 m), more rarely an erect or ascending shrub. Young growth sparsely lepidote, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves obovate or narrowly elliptic, obtuse or rarely subacute at the apex, tapered to the base, (10-)14-25(-34) x (4-)7-12 mm, dark green and sparsely pubescent along the midrib above, papillose and often whitish or silvery beneath, glabrous and with distant, deciduous scales. Inflorescence l-2(-3)-flowered, pedicels sparsely lepidote and pubescent, 25-50 mm, up to 70 mm in fruit. Calyx lobes oblong or obovate, sometimes obscure, usually 4-7 mm, glabrous and usually elepidote. Corolla pink to red or purple, (10-)13-20(-23) mm, tube 7-12 mm, glabrous, elepidote and pruinose outside, sparsely pubescent within the tube. Capsule borne on the accrescent and rigid pedicels, ovoid-cylindric, 7-9 mm, sparsely lepidote.

Distribution

India (Arunachal Pradesh), ne Burma, China (N, NW, W, C & SW Yunnan, S & SE Xizang)

Altitude

Habitat

On cliffs and ledges and in moorland and scrub, 2750-4250(-4900) m

Nomenclatural History

R. caeruleo-giaucum Balfour f. & Forrest, Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 13:34 (1920). Type: China, SE Tibet, Tsarong, Salween/Kiu chiang Divide, vii 1919, Forrest 19181 (holo. E). R. cremastum Balfour f. & Forrest, op. cit.: 39. Type: China, NW Yunnan, Mekong/Salween Divide, vii 1917, Forrest 14266 (holo. E). R. glauco-aureum Balfour f. & Forrest, op. cit.: 46. Type: China, Yunnan, Shweli/Salween Divide, vii 1918, Forrest 17544 (holo. E). R. charopoeum Balfour f. & Forrest, op. cit.: 245 (1922). Type: NE Burma, Chawchi pass, 11-13000 ft, Farrer 1670 (holo. E). NOTES RBG EDINB. 39 (1) R. damascenum Balfour f. & Forrest, op. cit.: 254. Type: China, NW Yunnan, Se la, Soutie (holo. E). R. myrtilloides Balfour f. & Kingdon Ward, Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 13:276 (1922). Type: NE Burma, ridge of Naung chaung in Nwai Divide, 15000 ft, 15 vii 1914, Kingdon Ward 1785 (holo. E). R. cerasiflorum Kingdon Ward, Gard. Chron. 93:277 (1933) nomen nudum. R. rubriflorum Kingdon Ward, Rhodo. Assoc. Yearb. Suppl. 240 (1934) nomen nudum. R. campylogynum var. celswn Davidian, Rhodo. Yearbook 8:83 (1954). Type: China, Yunnan, eastern flank of Tali range, 11-12000 ft, Forrest 4151 (holo. E). R. campylogynum var. charopoeum (Balfour f. & Forrest) Davidian, loc. cit. R. campylogynum var. cremastum (Balfour f. & Forrest) Davidian, loc. cit. R. campylogynum var. myrtilloides (Balfour f. & Kingdon Ward) Davidian, op. cit.: 84.

Notes

References

Cullen, J. (1980) A Revision of Rhododendron 1: Subgenus Rhododendron sections Rhododendron & Pogonanthum. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(1):145