Rhododendron anthopogon var. album Davidian.

Small shrubs, often prostrate or decumbent, (0.3–)0.5–1 (–1.5) m tall; branchlets loose, intricate, scaly, sparsely setose; bud scales deciduous. Petiole 3–8 mm, scaly; leaf blade aromatic, obovate-elliptic, ovate, rarely orbicular, (1.5–)2.5–3.5 (–4) × 1–1.6(–2.5) cm; base rounded; apex obtuse or rounded, mucronate; abaxial surface scales overlapping, dark reddish brown and dark yellow-brown, arranged in 2–3 tiers, often those of the lowest tier darker than rest; adaxial surface dark green, shiny, usually sparsely scaly. Inflorescence 4–6(–9)-flowered. Pedicel 0.2–0.4 cm, scaly; calyx lobes 3–5(–6) mm, elliptic or oblong, persisting to enclose mature capsule, scaly, margin densely ciliate; corolla narrowly tubular-funnelform, pink, or yellowish white, tube 6–12 mm, outer surface not scaly; inner surface densely pilose; lobes spreading, 1.2–2 cm; stamens (5–)6–8(–10), included in corolla tube, filaments glabrous; ovary ca. 1 mm, scaly; style short, thick, straight, as long as ovary, glabrous. Capsule ovoid, 3–5 mm, scaly. Fl. Apr–Jun, fr. Jul–Aug.

Thickets, open slopes, hillsides, cliff ledges; 3000–4500(–5000) m. S Xizang [Bhutan, N India, Nepal, Sikkim].