Rhododendron sphaeroblastum I. B. Balf. & Forrest

Shrubs, 1–3 m tall; young shoots and petioles glabrous. Petiole 15–30 mm; leaf blade thickly leathery, ovate to oblong-ovate or ovate-elliptic, 7–15 × 4–6.5 cm; base rounded or slightly cordate; apex obtuse or subrounded, mucronate; abaxial surface with indumentum 2-layered, upper layer rust-red to cinnamon, or deep rust-red, loose, woolly, persistent or detersile, lower layer compacted; adaxial surface glabrous. Inflorescence racemose-umbellate, 10–12-flowered; rachis 10–15 mm, glabrous. Pedicel 1–2 cm, glabrous; calyx lobes 5, 1–1.5 mm, unequal, triangular, acute, glabrous; corolla funnel-campanulate, or broadly campanulate, white, to pink or red to yellow, with carmine spots on corolla tube and upper lobes, 3.5–4.5 cm, lobes 5; stamens 10, unequal, filaments puberulent at base; ovary 5–6 mm, glabrous or sparsely floccose; style ca. 2 cm, glabrous. Capsule cylindric, slightly curved, 18–20 × 5–6 mm. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Aug–Oct.

SW Sichuan, N Yunnan.

Mixed forests, Abies forests, Rhododendron thickets, mountain slopes; 3300–4400 m.