Description

Shrub or small tree to 4m. Twigs rounded, c.5mm in diameter, young parts with pale brown scales, quickly glabrescent; internodes 4–5cm, shorter than the leafy area. Lateral buds conspicuous, spherical. Leaves loosely spirally arranged. Blade 40–100 x 25–55mm, broadly elliptic to obovate or ovate; apex shortly and abruptly acutely acuminate, rarely obtuse; margin entire although finely crenulate by impressed scales if viewed with a lens, narrowly cartilaginous, often broadly revolute; base broadly tapering to rounded, sometimes sub-cordate. Initially densely scaly on both sides, the scales often touching each other on the upper side, glabrescent and remaining minutely pitted above, densely to sparsely scaly beneath. Scales mostly transparent or pale brown with small darker centres, sub-stellate, slightly impressed. Mid-vein broad, but quickly tapering, raised above in the proximal ½ and more weakly raised below for c.¾ of its length; lateral veins 4–9 per side spreading at an angle of c.45°, high-ascending, curved-anastomosing before the margin, slightly raised and often minutely grooved above, smooth beneath, reticulation obscure above, moderately visible beneath. Petiole 5–10 x 4–5mm, robust, silvery scaly initially, without a groove, becoming rugulose when dry. Flower buds to 50 x 23mm, ovate or narrowly ovate, with an acute apex, smooth with all the bracts appressed, green flushed with red. Bracts ovate, obovate to spathulate, appressed hairy outside and with small pale brown scales in a central band, glabrous inside, fringed with brown often dendroid scales. Bracteoles 17–22mm, filamentous but slightly broadened upwards, laxly sub-appressed hairy throughout. Inflorescence an open umbel of 6–15 flowers, these horizontally displayed or half-hanging, not or only very faintly scented. Pedicels 25–50 x c.2.5mm, densely to sparsely stellate-scaly, strongly flushed pink. Calyx c.4mm in diameter, obliquely disc-shaped, normally shortly lobed or occasionally with one or two elongate deflexed teeth up to 5 x 1mm, scaly outside, glabrous inside. Corolla 35–45 x 35–55mm, funnel-shaped, white, pink or red; tube c.24 x 5 x 10mm, white, straight, glabrous or sparsely scaly outside, hairy in the basal ½ inside; lobes 23–26 x 17–22mm, reflexed to the horizontal, overlapping ½–2⁄3, rounded or slightly retuse. Stamens at first clustered together in the mouth of the flower, becoming a little exserted (to c.3mm), strongly incurved; filaments linear and laxly hairy below, narrower to filiform and glabrous upwards, white; anthers cream, oblong, 3–3.5 x c.1mm, the base obtuse or minutely apiculate. Disc glabrous, or hairy at the upper margin. Ovary 5–7 x 2.5–3mm, ovoid-conical or somewhat cylindric-obovoid, densely covered with appressed, long white, (brown on drying), hairs which cover the scales, abruptly contracted distally; style slender, white, lying on the lower side of the tube but curving upwards, with some sparse hairs at the very base or glabrous, remaining distinctly shorter than the stamens; stigma globose, deeply lobed, white. Fruit 25–30 x 7–8mm, cylindrical, densely and persistently short brown hairy, the outer layer peeling irregularly and then the valves reflexing and the placentae weakly splayed and breaking away at the base. Seeds 3–3.5mm, without tails c.0.9mm, the longest tail 1.2–1.5mm.

Rhododendron impositum J.J.Sm.

Description

Distribution

Altitude

Habitat

Nomenclatural History

Notes

References