单花杜鹃 dan hua du juan

Dwarf shrubs, evergreen, 0.1–0.5(–1) m tall; branches usually prostrate, creeping, scaly, sparsely puberulous. Petiole 1–4 mm, scaly; leaf blade leathery, oblong-obovate, oblong-ovate, or oblong-elliptic, 1.3–2.5 × 0.5–1.2 cm; base broadly cuneate; apex acute or rounded; abaxial surface pale green, scales 3–6 × their own diameter apart, small, at first golden; rapidly becoming dark brown; adaxial surface dark green or bright green, usually scaly. Inflorescence 1- or 2-flowered. Pedicel 1–2 cm, scaly, in fruit to 3.5 cm; calyx lobes 1–2.5 mm, ovate or oblong, persisting to enclose mature capsule, scaly, margin sparsely ciliate; corolla broadly funnelform, purple, 2.1–2.8 cm, tube 12–14 mm, outer surface densely pubescent and sparsely scaly; stamens 10, shorter than corolla, filaments pubescent towards base; ovary ovoid, 2–3 mm, densely scaly; style slender, straight, shorter than corolla, longer than stamens, glabrous. Capsule cylindric-ovoid or cylindric, 6–10 mm, densely scaly. Fl. Apr–May.

Alpine grassy slopes or steeps; 3300–4000 m. SE Xizang [NE Myanmar].

Lower Taxa

• Rhododendron uniflorum var. imperator (Kingdon Ward) Cullen
• Rhododendron uniflorum var. uniflorum