Rhododendron complexum I. B. Balf. & W. W. Smith

Small shrubs, fastigiate or rounded, 0.08–0.6 m tall, much branched. Petiole 0.5–2 mm, scaly; leaf blade oblong, lanceolate to ovate, 0.35–1.2 × 0.16–0.65 cm; base cuneate or truncate; apex obtuse or rounded, mucronate or absent; abaxial surface scales contiguous, uniformly ferruginous; adaxial surface green, scales dense. Inflorescence 3–4(–6)-flowered. Pedicel 0.5–7.5 cm, scaly; calyx usually obsolete, lobes less than 1 mm; lobes triangular to rounded, scaly, margin scaly or ciliate, persistent in fruit; corolla tubular-funnelform, pale lilac to rose-purple, (0.9–)1.1–1.3 cm, tube 4–6 mm, outer surface glabrous, rarely puberulous, inner surface pubescent; stamens 5 or 6(–8), included in corolla tube, filaments pubescent towards base; ovary 1.2–2 mm, densely pale-scaly; style shorter than stamens. Capsule ovoid, ca. 5 mm, densely scaly. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Jul–Sep.

W Sichuan, NW Yunnan.

Rhododendron thickets, alpine grassy slopes, stony pastures, rocks; 3000–4600 m.