Scaly Rhododendron

Small shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1.5(–2) m tall. Petiole 2–4 mm, scaly; leaf blade ± leathery, obovate, obovate-elliptic, or oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, (0.4–)1.2–2.4(–3.8) × (0.2–) 0.4–1.4(–1.8) cm; apex mucronate; abaxial surface pale grayish green, scales overlapping to 0.5 × their own diameter apart, yellow-green or brown, rims broad and translucent; adaxial surface dark green, scales dense. Inflorescence 1–3(–4)-flowered. Pedicel (0.1–)0.2–2.5(–3.8) cm, scaly; calyx reddish; lobes 2–4 mm, variable in shape, ovate, oblong to rounded, persistent, scaly, ciliate; corolla broadly campanulate, white, pink, red to purple or yellow, often with darker spots, 0.9–1.7 cm, scaly; stamens (8–)10, longer than corolla, filaments densely pubescent towards base or for up to 2/3 of their length; ovary densely scaly; style sharply deflexed, short, glabrous. Capsule 4–8 mm, densely scaly. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Jul–Sep.

Lepidote, aromatic, gregarious shrubs, up to 2 m; branches rough. Leaves shortly petiolate, elliptic to oblong, 1.1-2.6 cm long, 0.7-1.3 cm broad, both surfaces scaly. Flowers solitary or in clusters of 2-5; pedicels scaly, 1-2 cm long. Calyx segments subequal, rounded, scaly, 1.5-2 mm long. Corolla purplish, 1-1.5 cm long, campanulate, tube short. Stamens 8 or 10, included; filaments villous below. Ovary 5-locular. Capsule narrowly ovoid, c.1 cm long. Seeds numerous, minute.

W Sichuan, S Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, N India, NE Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim].

Distribution : Fairly common from 3000 to 4000 m in the Himalayas from Hazara to Bhutan and has been collected from Hazara and Azad Kashmir in West Pakistan.

Fl. Per. June-August.

Forests, scrub, grassy slopes, moorlands, rocks; (1700–)3000–3600(–4200) m.