红背杜鹃 hong bei du juan

Rhododendron daphniflorum Diels.

Small shrubs, (0.2–)0.3–0.5(–1) m tall; branchlets usually twiggy and intricate, scaly; bud scales deciduous. Petiole 2–5 mm; leaf blade aromatic, elliptic, ovate-oblong, rarely ovate, 1–2(–2.5) × (0.5–)0.6–0.9(–1.2) cm; base rounded or tapering; apex usually rounded, mucronate; abaxial surface scales overlapping, cinnamon or dark brown, arranged in 2–3 tiers, the lowermost tier usually darker than rest; adaxial surface dark green, shiny, glabrous. Inflorescence 5–8(–12)-flowered. Pedicel ca. 0.2 cm; calyx lobes 3–4 mm, oblong-elliptic, persisting to enclose mature capsule, scales mostly absent, margin ciliate and scaly; corolla narrowly tubular, white or pale rose, 1.2–1.4(–1.7) cm, tube 6–8(–9.5) mm, inner surface densely pilose; lobes spreading, rounded, usually sparsely scaly outside; stamens 5, included in corolla tube, filaments glabrous; ovary ca. 1 mm, scaly; style thick, straight. Capsule ovoid, ca. 3 mm, scaly. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Sep.

Thickets, grasslands, open rocky pastures; 3800–4600 m. Qinghai, C, N, and SW Sichuan.