宜章杜鹃 yi zhang du juan

Small shrubs, 0.5–1.2 m tall; young shoots sparsely scaly and hispid. Petiole 6–8 mm, scaly, hispid; leaf blade leathery, oblong to oblong-elliptic, 3–5 × 1.2–2.2 cm; base broadly cuneate to rounded; apex rounded, mucronate; abaxial surface scales dense, pubescent; adaxial surface sparsely scaly, densely hispid; midrib and lateral veins grooved adaxially. Inflorescence 1- or 2-flowered. Pedicel 0.7–1 cm, densely scaly, hispid when young; calyx deeply 5-lobed, lobes ca. 6 mm, ovate, densely scaly; corolla funnelform, white, ca. 4 cm; stamens 10, ca. 2.8 cm, filaments pubescent below; ovary densely scaly and pubescent; style densely scaly below. Capsule not described. Fl. Apr.

About 1600 m. Hunan (Yizhang).

The original author compared this species with Rhododendron levinei. However, the midrib is impressed above, suggesting that this affinity may not be correct. The present authors have seen no material of this species and so cannot confirm its true affinities.