Bull. Jard. Bot. Buit. III, 1920. 1: 399, t.48.
WFO ID: wfo-0000405702
IPNI ID: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:333541-1
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Shrub or small tree to 4m. Twigs 2–5mm in diameter, rounded, at first covered with dense, scurfy, deeply stellate and sub-dendroid, reddish-brown scales, quickly glabrescent; internodes 3–15cm. Leaves mostly spirally arranged, sometimes in loose pseudowhorls. Blade 50–140 x 15–40mm, elliptic to narrowly elliptic or ovate elliptic; apex shortly acuminate, sub-acute; margin entire, slightly or not revolute; base broadly tapering to rounded; densely stellate-scaly on both sides at first, quickly glabrescent above and also below, the fragile, loose scales often only persisting close to the mid-vein or in other protected areas. Scales with the marginal zone deeply and narrowly stellately divided; centre depressed, sub-dendroid. Mid-vein narrowly impressed above, broader and very prominent beneath; lateral veins 6–9 per side, somewhat irregular, spreading at c.45°, straight below, curved-anastomosing before the edge, mostly faintly raised, reticulation obscure. Petiole 5–10 x 1–1.5mm, semi-rounded, densely scaly. Flower buds c.40 x 20mm, narrowly ellipsoid, smooth, green. Bracts to 30 x 6mm, outer bracts ovate, becoming ovate-elliptic to broadly elliptic, innermost ones elliptic-spathulate, all densely shortly appressed-hairy and scaly outside, laxly hairy inside. Bracteoles to 22mm, filiform to linear-spathulate, laxly hairy. Inflorescence a complete umbel of 5–15 flowers. Pedicels 9–25 x c.1mm, densely, or more rarely laxly sub-patently hairy and scaly but the scales fragile tending to persist near the ends, occasionally only laxly to sub-densely scaly and without hairs. Calyx c.5mm in diameter, oblique, shortly obtusely 5-lobed, densely hairy and scaly. Corolla 40–60 x 50–55mm, funnel-shaped, orange to yellow, also occasionally white or pink; tube 25–35 x 6–8 x 13–20mm, obtusely 5-angled, and lobed at the base, laxly, minutely stellate-scaly outside, hairy inside; lobes 20–25 x 15–20mm, broadly obovate. Stamens exserted to c.10–12mm, sub-equal; filaments linear and hairy proximally, filiform and glabrous in the distal ½; anthers 3–5mm, oblong, base obtuse. Disc densely hairy on the upper margin only. Ovary 5–9 x 2–2.5mm, sub-cylindrical, densely long-hairy and scaly, tapering distally; style slender, equalling the stamens, densely hairy and scaly proximally, becoming less so distally, glabrous in the ultimate area; stigma thick-rounded. Fruit 55–70 x 6–7mm, sub-fusiform-cylindric, sub-densely hairy and scaly.
Indonesia, Sulawesi (C), Mt Masawa, Mt Taburone, Mt Balapioe, Mt Pelali, Mt Rantemario and Mt Lompoh; Lore Lundu (Lake Kalimpaa).
Terrestrial in light dry forest, grass and fern shrubberies, on rocks or bare slopes, locally common and gregarious.
Argent, G. (2006) Rhododendrons of subgenus Vireya. RHS:London. Page:290