怒江杜鹃亚组 nu jiang du juan ya zu

Fang Ruizheng (方瑞征 Fang Rhui-cheng); David C. Chamberlain

Rhododendron ser. Saluenensia Hutchinson in J. B. Stevenson, Sp. Rhodod. 587. 1930 ["Saluenense"].

Small shrubs, erect or creeping, 0.05–1.5 m tall; young shoots scaly, scales sessile or stalked, strap-shaped setae sometimes present. Leaf blade leathery; abaxial surface scales overlapping, often stalked, in 2 or more layers, brown or orange-pink; veins sometimes with strap-shaped setae; adaxial surface scaly or not. Inflorescence terminal, umbellate, 1–3(–5)-flowered; pedicels densely scaly, otherwise glabrous or hispid; calyx large, often tinged with red, 3–9 mm, 5-lobed to base, hairy on the margin; corolla broadly funnelform-campanulate to campanulate, purple, purplish red or deep red, often with darker spots inside, outer surface scaly or not, pubescent; stamens 10; ovary 5-locular, sometimes pubescent; style often longer than stamens, glabrous or pubescent at base. Capsule ovoid, 4–8 mm, surrounded by persistent calyx. Seed wingless.

Four species: China, India, Myanmar; four species (one endemic) in China.

Lower Taxa

• Rhododendron calostrotum I. B. Balfour & Kingdon Ward
• Rhododendron keleticum I. B. Balfour & Forrest
• Rhododendron riparioides (Cullen) Cubey
• Rhododendron saluenense Franchet