多枝杜鹃 duo zhi du juan

Rhododendron compactum Hutchinson; R. scintillans I. B. Balfour & W. W. Smith.

Erect shrubs, ca. 1.2 m tall; branchlets short, densely scaly with flaky scales. Petiole 0.5–3 mm, scaly; leaf blade narrowly elliptic, elliptic, oblong or lanceolate, (0.4–)0.6–1.5(–2) × 0.2–0.4(–0.8) cm; base cuneate; apex acute or obtuse, shortly mucronate; abaxial surface gray-green, scales contiguous or not, usually uniformly reddish brown; adaxial surface usually dark green, shiny, scales dense. Inflorescence 2–5-flowered. Pedicel 0.5–3 cm, scaly; calyx lobes 0.5–1.5(–2.5) mm, broadly ovate to rounded, unequal, persistent in fruit, margin ciliate and rarely also scaly; corolla broadly funnelform, lavender to purple-blue, rarely white, 0.8–1.3 cm, tube 2.5–5 mm, outer surface not scaly; inner surface pubescent; stamens (9 or)10, nearly as long as corolla, filaments pubescent towards base; ovary 2–3 mm, scaly; style longer than stamens, scales absent, rarely puberulous at base. Capsule cylindric, up to 6 mm, densely scaly. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Sep.

Pinus forest margins, open alpine meadows, rocky slopes, cliffs; 3000–4300 m. C and NW Yunnan.