Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 9:279 (1916)
Verified by:
Much branched prostrate shrub forming dense cushions or mats, or erect and up to 1 m. Leaves 3 —12(—14) x 1 -5-5(-6-5) mm, narrowly elliptic or lanceolate to broadly elliptic or rotund, apex acute to rounded, strongly mucronate, base cuneate, undersurface golden-fawn to pale orange or reddish brown with densely overlapping scales, the majority pale gold to reddish brown mixed with few to many darker scales (these rarely absent). Inflorescence l-2(-3)-flowered, pedicels lepidote, sometimes puberulous also, 0.5-1-5(-2) mm. Calyx 0-5-2-5(-3) mm, lobes deltoid to rounded, often unequal, lepidote, margin with scales and/or long cilia. Corolla lavender or rose-pink to purple, broadly funnel-shaped, (6-)7-12(-14) mm, tube 2-4 mm, pubescent in the throat and often also outside, sparingly to densely lepidote outside. Stamens 10, varying in length, ± as long as the corolla. Ovary lepidote, style 3-17 mm, shorter than, equalling or longer than stamens, glabrous or pubescent towards the base, sometimes with a few scales. Capsule ovoid, c. 3 mm, lepidote.
China (N, NW & C Yunnan, SW Sichuan)
Forests, open rocky slopes, cliffs
R. diacritum Balfour f. & W. W. Smith, op. cit., 225. Type: China, Yunnan, mountains of the Chungtien plateau, 13-14000 ft, v 1913, Forrest 12614 (holo. E). R. drumonium Balfour f. & W. W. Smith, op. cit.: 226. Type: China, Yunnan, valley of the Chung river, 10500 ft, v 1913, Kingdon Ward 269A (holo. E). R. idoneum Balfour f. & W. W. Smith, op. cit.: 237. Type: China, Yunnan, mountains of Chungtien plateau, 13-14000 ft, vii 1914, Forrest 12623 (holo. E). R. pycnocladum Balfour f. & W. W. Smith, op. cit.: 267. Type: China, Yunnan, Lichiang range, 10-11000 ft, v 1906, Forrest 2181 (holo. E)
Cullen, J. (1980) A Revision of Rhododendron 1: Subgenus Rhododendron sections Rhododendron & Pogonanthum. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(1):104