Erect shrubs, 0.4–0.8(–2.5) m tall. Petiole 2–3(–4) mm, scaly; leaf blade ovate-elliptic, broadly elliptic to oblong, (0.7–) 1–1.5(–2.5) × (0.3–)0.5–0.8 cm; base rounded to narrowly cuneate; apex rounded, shortly mucronate; abaxial surface pale gray-green, scales well-spaced, uniformly brown or dimorphic, some dark, the rest golden; adaxial surface dark green, scales dense. Inflorescence (1–)3–5-flowered. Pedicel 0.3–0.4(–0.7) cm, scaly; calyx lobes (2–)4–6(–7) mm, oblong-lanceolate to oblong, apex acute, persistent in fruit, usually scaly, ciliate; corolla broadly funnelform, yellow, 1.2–1.8 cm, tube 4–7 mm, outer surface usually sparsely scaly, pubescent, inner surface pubescent; stamens (8–)10, nearly as long as corolla, filaments villous towards base; ovary 2–3.5 mm, densely scaly; style 1.2–2.2 cm, glabrous or puberulous at base. Capsule ovoid, ca. 6 mm, densely scaly. Fl. Mar–May, fr. Jun–Jul.

Rhododendron ×verruculosum Rehder & E. H. Wilson (in Sargent, Pl. Wilson. 1: 507. 1913), described from Sichuan, was considered to be a natural hybrid between R. flavidum and an unknown species by Philipson and Philipson (Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 34: 40. 1975).

Alpine forests and thickets, rocky slopes, rocks; 3000–4300 m. W Sichuan.