美被杜鹃 mei bei du juan

Small erect shrubs, 0.2–1 m tall; young shoots with dense stipitate or sessile scales, not hispid (strap-shaped setae absent). Petiole 2–6 mm, densely scaly, without strap-shaped setae; leaf blade ovate-elliptic to oblong-elliptic, or ovate, 0.5–2.5 × 0.3–1.4 cm, rounded or acuminate on both sides, apiculate; abaxial surface brown, scales dense, overlapping or arranged in 3–5 tiers, not flattened; adaxial surface dark, scales dense, 1 or more × their own diameter apart, veins of young leaves sometimes with strap-shaped setae. Inflorescence terminal, 1–2(–5)-flowered. Pedicel 0.8–1.5 cm, densely scaly, scales sometimes stipitate; calyx reddish purple or pale red, 5-lobed to the base; lobes 3–9 mm, elliptic, ovate or nearly rounded, ± pubescent or glabrous; corolla broadly funnelform-campanulate, red or pale purple, 1–2.5 cm, outer surface scaly in the center or not scaly, densely pubescent; stamens unequal, longer than tube but shorter than corolla; filaments densely pubescent at base; ovary densely scaly, sometimes pubescent; style red, longer than stamens, glabrous or pubescent at base. Capsule ovoid, 6–8 mm. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Aug–Sep.

Rocky slopes in forests, thickets or rocky slopes in high mountains, often dominant; 3400–4600 m. Xizang, Yunnan [India, Myanmar].

Lower Taxa

• Rhododendron calostrotum var. calciphilum (Hutchinson & Kingdon Ward) Davidian
• Rhododendron calostrotum var. calostrotum