雅容杜鹃 ya rong du juan

Shrubs, evergreen, 0.25–0.9(–1.5) m tall; branchlets scaly. Petiole 4–6 mm, scaly; leaf blade leathery, aromatic, obovate to obovate-elliptic, 2.6–7 × 1.3–4.5 cm; base tapering; apex obtuse, mucronate; abaxial surface glaucous, scales 0.5–2(–5) × their own diameter apart, unequal, the smaller pale yellow, larger brown, widely separated; adaxial surface dark green, usually sparsely scaly. Inflorescence (2–)3–4(–6)-flowered. Pedicel 1.8–3 cm, scaly; calyx lobes (3–)5–10 mm, ovate, apex rounded, persisting to enclose mature capsule, scaly, margin usually sparsely ciliate; corolla campanulate or broadly campanulate, white, pink to rose or purple, sometimes spotted, 1.5–2.6 cm, tube (8–)9–13 mm, not or only sparsely scaly; stamens 10, shorter than corolla, filaments pubescent in lower 1/2 or nearly to apex; ovary densely scaly; style stout, sharply bent or deflexed, short, usually without scales at base, otherwise glabrous. Capsule cylindric-ovate, 6–10 mm, scaly. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Aug.

Valleys, grassy slopes, rocky slopes, cliffs, rocks, among boulders; 2500–4300 m. S Xizang, NW Yunnan [NE Myanmar].

Lower Taxa

• Rhododendron charitopes subsp. charitopes
• Rhododendron charitopes subsp. tsangpoense (Kingdon Ward) Cullen