19. Rhododendron subsect. Lepidota (Hutchinson) Sleumer, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 74: 531. 1949.
鳞腺杜鹃亚组 lin xian du juan ya zu
Yang Hanbi (杨汉碧 Yang Han-pi); David F. Chamberlain
Rhododendron ser. Lepidota Hutchinson in J. B. Stevenson, Sp. Rhodod. 437. 1930 ["Lepidotum"].
Small shrubs, evergreen (or deciduous), 0.5–1.5(–2) m tall. Leaf blade ± leathery; abaxial surface pale grayish green, scales overlapping or nearly so, with broad, translucent rims, yellow-green or brown; adaxial surface densely scaly. Inflorescence terminal, 1–3(–5)-flowered. Pedicel scaly; calyx developed, 2–4 mm, deeply 5-lobed; corolla broadly campanulate, white, pink, red to purple or yellow, often with darker spots; outer surface scaly; stamens (8–)10; filaments pubescent towards base; ovary 5-celled, scaly; style short, sharply deflexed, glabrous. Capsule small, 4–8 mm, densely scaly. Seeds wingless, obscurely finned.
Three species: Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim; one species in China.
