Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 12: 128 (1920) - R. falconeri Hooker f. var. macabeanum Watt, mss.
Verified by:
Tree, up to 15m. Leaves broadly ovate to broadly elliptic, 14-25 x 9- 18.5cm, 1.3-1.8 x as long as broad, apex rounded to retuse, sometimes also minutely apiculate, base rounded (in cultivation leaves up to 31 x 13cm, 2.3 x as long as broad, base cuneate), upper surface glabrous when mature, reticulate with impressed veins, lower surface with a dense bistrate indumentum, the lower layer compacted, whitish, the upper lanate-tomentose, composed of largely rosulate though with some ramiform hairs; petioles 2-2.5cm, terete, slightly winged, floccose-tomentose, especially below. Inflorescence dense, 15—25-flowered; rhachis to c.35mm; pedicels 25—40mm, densely whitish-felted tomentose. Calyx c.lmm, tomentose, lobes triangular. Corolla 8-lobed, tubular-to narrowly funnel-campanulate, lemon yellow with a purple blotch in the throat, c.50mm. Stamens 16. Ovary densely rufous-tomentose. Capsule 20-40 x c.8mm, curved.
NE India (Manipur, Nagaland)
Forming dense stands on the summits of hills, also scattered through mixed woodland
Chamberlain, D.F. (1982) A Revision of Rhododendron II. Subgenus Hymenanthes. Notes From the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(2):251