Description

Shrub to 1-5 m, compact and intricately branched. Leaves (4-8-)6-12(-14) X (2.7-)3-5-7(-8) mm, oblong to elliptic or rotund, apex rounded, usually shortly mucronate, base cuneate to rounded, the margin often bearing branched hairs, undersurface uniformly buff to straw-coloured, scales ± contiguous to overlapping. Inflorescence (1—) 2—6(—8)-flowered, pedicels lepidote, to 5 mm. Calyx 0.5-2 mm, lobes deltoid to oblong, margin lepidote with pale golden scales and/or marginal cilia. Corolla almost hypocrateriform, pale lavender to dark blue, rarely yellowish, elepidote outside, 8—12(—14) mm, tube 4—6(—7) mm. Stamens 10, not exserted from corolla tube, filaments pubescent towards the base. Ovary lepidote, style shorter than the stamens. Capsule ovoid, lepidote, c. 5 mm.

Distribution

China (N Yunnan, SW & C Sichuan)

Altitude

Habitat

Open moist meadows, hillsides, forest margins

Nomenclatural History

R. blepharocalyx Franchet, op. cit.: 396. Type: China, Sutchuen occidental, au voisinage de Tongolo, dans la vallee de Mouma et dans les montagnes de Tche-to, Soulie 398 (holo. P). R. peramabile Hutchinson, Gard. Chron. 91:366 (1932). Type: a cultivated specimen (holo. K)

Notes

References

Cullen, J. (1980) A Revision of Rhododendron 1: Subgenus Rhododendron sections Rhododendron & Pogonanthum. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(1):96