Rhododendron aperantum I. B. Balf. & Kingdon-Ward

Dwarf matted shrubs, 0.3–0.6 m tall; young shoots floccose-tomentose; bud scales persistent. Petiole broad, 3–6 mm, floccose, glabrescent; leaf blade leathery, obovate to oblanceolate, 3–6.5 × 1.4–2.4 cm; base cuneate; apex rounded, apiculate; abaxial surface glaucous, papillate, glabrous when mature, sometimes with vestiges of reddish brown or whitish indumentum persisting on main veins and midrib; adaxial surface green, rugose, glabrous. Inflorescence lax, 4–6-flowered; rachis ca. 2 mm. Pedicel 1.5–3 cm, floccose-tomentose and glandular-hairy; calyx cupular; lobes 5, 3–6 mm, glandular-ciliate, otherwise glabrous; corolla tubular-campanulate, white, yellow flushed pink to orange or rose, 3–4.5 cm, lobes 5, rounded, ca. 1.3 × 2 cm, glabrous; stamens 10, 1.3–2.5 cm, filaments glabrous; ovary conoid, ca. 5 mm, rufous-tomentose, and glandular-setose; style ca. 2.2 cm, glabrous. Capsule oblong, 12–20 × 4.2–7 mm; calyx persistent, tomentose. Fl. Jul, fr. Oct.

NW Yunnan [NE Myanmar].

Rhododendron thickets, cliffs; 3600–4500 m.