Malesia 1878. I: 202.
WFO ID: wfo-0000405410
IPNI ID: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:333281-1
Verified by:
Shrub to 2m. Twigs rounded, 2–3mm in diameter, laxly scaly; internodes 3–8cm. Leaves 4–10 together in well-marked pseudowhorls sometimes with one or two much smaller leaves. Blade 50–100 x 6–16mm, narrowly elliptic to sub-linear, often slightly curved; apex acute; margin entire or irregularly sinuate, weakly revolute; base narrowly tapering, glabrescent above when mature, sparsely scaly beneath. Scales flat, circular or irregularly disc-shaped, marginal zone entire or variously, often obtusely and shallowly lobed; centre minute, weakly impressed. Mid-vein narrow, impressed above, prominent beneath in the proximal ½–¾; lateral veins 5–10 per side, ascending and joining towards the margin, slightly raised above, faintly so or not visible beneath, sub-densely reticulate and very slightly raised above only when dry. Petiole 4–6 x 1–1.5mm, grooved above, laxly scaly. Flower buds to 25 x 8mm, very narrowly conical, acute, the bract tips erect, slightly gaping, green or flushed with pink. Bracts to 24 x 5mm, very narrowly ovate, with acute channelled points, glabrous. Bracteoles subulate, glabrous, to 10mm. Inflorescence 1–5-flowered in an open umbel, the flowers horizontal to half-hanging. Pedicels scaly at base and apex, almost glabrous between, 12–17 x c.1.25mm. Calyx disc-shaped, obtusely and very shortly 5-lobed, laxly scaly outside, 3–4mm in diameter. Corolla 25–35 x 30–50mm, funnel-shaped, tubular below, pale yellow or suffused with orange around the edges of the lobes, without scent; tube 15–20 x 5–6 x 10–12mm, straight, constricted about the middle and often fluted in the proximal ½, glabrous outside, hairy inside; lobes 22–26 x 13–26mm, spreading, obovate-spathulate, overlapping up to ½. Stamens irregularly spreading, exserted to c.10mm; filaments linear and densely hairy in the lowest 3–4mm, glabrous and more filiform distally; anthers obovate-oblong, c.2.5 x 0.8mm, base obtuse. Disc prominent, green, hairy on the upper margin. Ovary 6–8 x 2–2.5mm, densely hairy and scaly; style lying on the lower side of the tube, curving upwards to present the stigma in a central position when receptive, hairy at the base for 1–2mm, otherwise glabrous; stigma globose, becoming disc-shaped and deeply 5-lobed. Fruit 20–30 x 4–5mm, fusiform-cylindric. Seeds c.6mm, without tails 0.8mm, the longest tail c.3mm.
Malaysia (Borneo), Sarawak, Mt Serapi (Mattang or Mattan) and Mt Santubong.
Terrestrial on summit rocks and amongst moss along the ridges in open sub-montane forest.
Argent, G. (2006) Rhododendrons of subgenus Vireya. RHS:London. Page:264