茶绒杜鹃 cha rong du juan

Rhododendron apricum var. falcinellum P. C. Tam; R. falcinellum (P. C. Tam) P. C. Tam; R. rufescens P. C. Tam (1982), not Franchet (1895); R. rufulum P. C. Tam.

Shrubs, deciduous, 0.5–2(–5) m tall; young shoots densely shortly glandular-setose, glabrescent. Summer and winter leaves different. Petiole 3–5(–12) mm, densely shortly red-brown-glandular-setose; leaf blade leathery, elliptic or narrow-elliptic, rarely ovate-elliptic, 2–5(–10) × 1–2(–5) cm; base broadly cuneate or subrounded; margin conspicuously revolute, shortly brown-setose; apex shortly acuminate; abaxial surface densely shortly red-brown-setose along veins; adaxial surface shortly silky setose, glabrescent. Inflorescence to 18-flowered. Pedicel ca. 1 cm, densely shortly red-brown setose; calyx lobes minute, densely strigose, apex truncate; corolla narrowly funnelform, purple-red, purplish or pink, without purple flecks, 1.8–2.3 cm; tube narrowly long-cylindric, 1–1.3 cm; lobes narrowly oblong, 0.8–1 cm, glabrous; apex mucronate; stamens 5, unequal, 2–2.5 cm, filaments glabrous; ovary ca. 3 mm, densely shortly silky setose; style ca. 2.7 cm, glabrous. Capsule ovoid, ca. 7 × 5 mm, densely shortly glandular-setose. Fl. Apr–May, fr. Aug.

Open forests and thickets, mixed forest margins; 400–800 m. C and S Fujian.

Rhododendron rufulum may be distinct from R. apricum, in which case all the synonyms cited above relate to R. rufulum.