粉钟杜鹃 fen zhong du juan

Shrubs 1–4 m tall; young shoots glabrous, sparsely shortly glandular-hairy. Petiole 15–20 mm, glabrescent; leaf blade leathery, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, 5–12 × 2.5–4.5 cm; base rounded or slightly cordate; apex acute or acuminate; abaxial surface indumentum 1-layered, thin or thick ± agglutinated or spongy, with or without surface pellicle; adaxial surface glabrous; midrib prominent abaxially, lateral veins concealed. Inflorescence racemose-umbellate, 5–7-flowered; rachis ca. 5 mm. Pedicel 1.5–2.5 cm, tomentose and densely short-glandular-hairy; calyx lobes 5, 6–10 mm, oblong-elliptic, sparsely shortly glandular-hairy outside, and margin glandular-ciliate; corolla funnel-campanulate, pale pink to pink, with crimson markings, 3.5–4 cm, lobes 5, rounded, deeply grooved; stamens 10, unequal, filaments pubescent at base; ovary 5–6 mm, densely short-glandular-hairy; style glabrous or shortly glandular-hairy, stigma discoid. Capsule oblong-cylindric, straight, 15–20 × 6–8 mm, calyx and style persistent. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Sep–Oct.

Abies forests, coniferous forest margins, thickets, rocky or gravelly slopes; 2500–4600 m. SW Sichuan, W Yunnan.

Lower Taxa

• Rhododendron balfourianum var. aganniphoides Tagg & Forrest
• Rhododendron balfourianum var. balfourianum