合江杜鹃 he jiang du juan

Small shrubs, ca. 1 m tall; young shoots slender, densely coarsely reddish strigose. Petiole ca. 3 mm, pale red-strigose; leaf blade thinly leathery, oblong or oblong-elliptic, 1–1.5(–2.6) × 0.7–1.3 cm; base subrounded; margin slightly revolute; apex acute and mucronate; abaxial surface yellowish brown strigose; adaxial surface sparsely coarsely strigose or glabrous except for hairs at base of midrib. Inflorescence terminal, usually 3–6-flowered. Pedicel ca. 0.6 cm, densely reddish strigose; calyx obscure, densely strigose; corolla funnel-campanulate, white, upper lobe with purple flecks, ca. 1.1 cm; tube cylindric, 5–6 × ca. 3 mm, outer surface sparsely strigose, inner surface puberulent; lobes unequal, oblong, ca. 0.5 × 0.3 cm; stamens 5, unequal, 1.3–1.6 cm, exserted, filaments flat, glabrous; ovary ovoid, ca. 3 mm, densely coarsely silky yellowish brown-strigose; style ca. 1 cm, shorter than stamens, sparsely coarsely strigose to middle. Fl. May–Jun.

Thickets, sides of channels. S Sichuan.

This species is said to resemble Rhododendron chunii, but it differs in the white corolla, the eglandular pedicel, corolla, and style, and in the glabrous filaments that are longer than the style.