Description

Small, intricate shrublet to 0.3 m; young shoots densely lepidote and conspicuously loriform-setose. Leaves elliptic, oblong or obovate, 10-15 x 6-8 mm, rounded to the very obtuse though mucronate apex, ± rounded to the base; upper surface dark green, persistently lepidote with golden, ± vesicular scales, occasionally loriform-setose, margins loriform-ciliate, lower surface pale green, slightly papillose, densely lepidote with dimorphic scales, vesicular and golden, and flat, broadly rimmed, pale to dark brown. Inflorescence 1-3-flowered, pedicels lepidote and filiform-acicular pubescent, 4-10 mm. Calyx lobes 5-8 mm, oblong-orbicular, obtuse, lepidote, sometimes loriform-ciliate. Corolla purple or pinkish, openly funnel-shaped, 15-18 mm, tube 7-8 mm, pilose inside the tube, glabrous outside. Stamens 10, exserted, filaments pubescent towards the base. Ovary lepidote and filiform-acicular pubescent towards the apex, style exceeding the stamens, glabrous and elepidote. Capsule lepidote, oblong-cylindric, up to 5 mm.

Distribution

Nepal, India (Sikkim, W Bengal), Bhutan, China (S Xizang—Chumbi valley only)

Altitude

Habitat

Open hillsides and slopes

Nomenclatural History

Notes

References

Cullen, J. (1980) A Revision of Rhododendron 1: Subgenus Rhododendron sections Rhododendron & Pogonanthum. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(1):109