美艳杜鹃 mei yan du juan

Small shrubs, deciduous, ca. 1 m tall; young shoots yellowish brown crispate-villous. Petioles flat, ca. 2 mm, crispate-villous; leaf blade membranous, oblong or oblanceolate-elliptic, usually 1.5–2.5 × 0.5–0.9 cm; base broadly cuneate to subrounded; apex obtuse, with a fine-point; both surfaces densely yellowish brown crispate-villous. Inflorescence 1–4-flowered. Pedicel ca. 1 cm, densely crispate-villous; calyx lobes elliptic-ovate, ca. 3.5 × 2 mm, outer surface crispate-pubescent, toothed, apex obtuse; corolla funnel-campanulate, purplish red, 2.5–3 cm, glabrous; lobes obovate, ca. 1.5 cm; stamens 10, unequal, up to 3.2 cm, conspicuously exserted, filaments pubescent below; ovary elliptic to long-elliptic, densely crispate-villous; style ca. 4 cm, glabrous. Fl. Jun.

Rocky cliffs, light shade by rivers; 900–1000 m. N Guangxi (Longsheng).

This species is a distinctive member of Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi on account of its yellowish crispate villous indumentum, subverticillate leaves, toothed calyx lobes with a few teeth, and conspicuously exserted stamens.