暗叶杜鹃 an ye du juan

Small shrubs, to 0.5(–1) m tall; branchlets short, with dense flaky scales; bud scales deciduous. Petiole 1–2 mm, scaly; leaf blade oblong-ovate, broadly elliptic or orbicular, 0.9–1.5(–1.8) × 0.5–0.7(–0.9) cm; base truncate or broadly cuneate; apex rounded with a short reflexed mucro; abaxial surface uniformly rusty brown, scales irregularly contiguous; adaxial surface green, matt, scales contiguous or overlapping, amber. Inflorescence usually 3-flowered. Pedicel 0.2–0.3 cm, scaly; calyx lobes 4–5 mm, ovate, scaly, margin densely ciliate, persistent in fruit; corolla and stamens unknown; style ca. 1.5 cm, densely pilose towards base. Capsule ovoid, ca. 5 mm, densely scaly. Fl. Apr–May.

Mountains; 3900–4300 m. SW Sichuan.