喇叭杜鹃 la ba du juan

Rhododendron fortunei subsp. discolor (Franchet) D. F. Chamberlain; R. fortunei var. houlstonii (Hemsley & E. H. Wilson) Rehder & E. H. Wilson; R. fortunei var. kwangfuense (Chun & W. P. Fang) G. Z. Li; R. houlstonii Hemsley & E. H. Wilson; R. kwangfuense Chun & W. P. Fang; R. mandarinorum Diels.

Shrubs or small trees, 1.5–8 m tall; branchlets stout, glabrous. Petiole stout, 15–25 mm, glabrous; leaf blade leathery, oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 9.5–18 × 2.4–5.4 cm, or broader; base cuneate, rarely cordate; apex obtuse; both surfaces glabrous; abaxial surface pale yellowish green; adaxial surface dark green; midrib raised abaxially, grooved adaxially; lateral veins ca. 21-paired, obscure abaxially, impressed adaxially. Inflorescence 6–8(–10)-flowered; rachis 15–30 mm, glandular. Pedicel 2–2.5 cm, glabrous or sparsely glandular; calyx lobes 7, 2–5 mm, ovate, glandular, margin gland-fringed; corolla funnel-campanulate, pale pink to white, ca. 5.5 cm, lobes 7, suborbicular, ca. 2 × 2.5 cm, emarginate; stamens 14–16, unequal, 3–3.8 cm, filaments glabrous; ovary conoid, ca. 7 mm, densely glandular-hairy; style glandular to tip. Capsule cylindric, 40–50 × ca. 15 mm. Fl. Jun–Jul, fr. Sep–Oct.

Forests; 900–1900 m. Anhui, Chongqing, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang.

Rhododendron discolor intergrades with R. fortunei, and can reliably be separated from that species only by the proportionately narrower leaves.