Description

Shrub, l-3(-6) m. Young shoots densely loriform-setose, the setae often persisting for more than one year. Leaves evergreen, ovate-elliptic to narrowly elliptic, acute to acuminate at the apex, cuneate to rounded at the base, (55-™)60-80 X (23— )28-35 mm, upper surface glabrous to loriform-setose, elepidote or sparsely lepidote, lower surface pilose (at least on the midrib, lamina sometimes ± glabrous) with filiform-acicular and sometimes a few loriform hairs, scales brown, distant; petiole densely pilose with filiform-acicular and loriform hairs. Inflorescences 2-3-fiowered, pedicels 12-17 mm, lepidote and with a dense indumentum of twisted loriform-setae. Calyx weakly 5-lobed, the lobes 1-2 mm, lepidote and loriform-setose. Corolla 30-36 mm, tube 14-16 mm, light to dark purple, lepidote and with a variably dense indumentum of flattened loriform setae outside. Stamens 10, filaments pubescent towards the base. Ovary lepidote and with a variable indumentum of filiform-acicular hairs and loriform setae. Capsule oblong-cylindric, up to 19 mm, lepidote, variably bristly.

Distribution

China (NW Sichuan)

Altitude

Habitat

Woods and thickets

Nomenclatural History

R. villosum Hemsley & Wilson, Kew Bull. 1910:119 non Roth (1807). Type as for R. trichanthum.

Notes

References

Cullen, J. (1980) A Revision of Rhododendron 1: Subgenus Rhododendron sections Rhododendron & Pogonanthum. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 39(1):74