Description

Tree, 8-12m. Leaves elliptic to oblanceolate, 15-27 x 5-9.5cm, 2.4-3.3 x as long as broad, glabrous above, with a thin compacted silvery indumentum beneath; petioles 2—3.5cm, sparsely floccose to glabrous when mature. Inflorescence 15-25-flowered; rhachis 40-50mm; pedicels 15-30mm, densely covered with sessile glands, sometimes also floccose. Calyx c.lmm, glandular. Corolla 8-lobed, ventricose-campanulate, pale yellow (rarely with a purplish tinge), with purple nectar pouches, 50-/70mm. Stamens 15-16. Ovary densely stipitate-glandular, sometimes also with a dense pale brown tomentum. Capsule 30-45 x 8- 12mm.

Distribution

E Nepal, NE India (Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh), Bhutan, China (S Xizang)

Altitude

Habitat

Open stony slopes, mixed woodland

Nomenclatural History

R. argenteum Hooker f., Rhododendrons Sikkim Himalaya t. 9 (1849). Type: Sikkim, summit

of Sinchal, Suradah and Tonglu, 8000-10000ft, Hooker (holo. K). R. longiflorum Nuttall, Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 5: 366 (1853). Type: India, Arunachal Pradesh, on the slopes of the Oola Mountain, 6500-7500ft, Booth (?holo. K).

Notes

References

Chamberlain, D.F. (1982) A Revision of Rhododendron II. Subgenus Hymenanthes. Notes From the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(2):244