Rhodo. Sikkim Himalaya t. 14 (1849)
Verified by:
Creeping shrublet to 10 cm. Young growth lepidote and puberulent. Leaves elliptic to broadly elliptic, acute to rounded at the apex, cuneate at the base, 9-19 x 4-5-12 mm, upper surface dark green, ± elepidote, margins revolute, lower surface pale greyish green with distant, small, ± equal, golden scales. Inflorescence 1-3-flowered, pedicels 10-20 mm in flower, ultimately 38-60 mm and rigid and erect in fruit. Calyx reddish, deeply lobed, the lobes ovate-oblong or oblong, 2-3-5 mm, lepidote. Corolla 11-21 mm, tube 7-14 mm, mouth slightly oblique, pink or purple, densely pilose all over the surface, scales few, mostly on the lobes. Stamens 10, filaments pubescent towards the base. Ovary densely lepidote, style impressed, straight, somewhat clavate, shorter than the stamens. Capsule 7-10 mm, lepidote.
Nepal, India (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh), Bhutan, NE Burma, China (S & SE Xizang)
Open places on slopes, rocks and banks
Cullen, J. (1980) A Revision of Rhododendron 1: Subgenus Rhododendron sections Rhododendron & Pogonanthum. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(1):120