附生杜鹃 fu sheng du juan

?Rhododendron atentsiense Handel-Mazzetti; R. notatum Hutchinson.

Shrubs, sometimes epiphytic, 1–3.5 m tall; old branches gray, less scaly; young shoots green, thin and long, sparsely brown or brownish red scaly. Petiole 5–13 mm, sparsely scaly; leaf blade oblong-elliptic or obovate-elliptic, 7–12 × 2–4.5 cm; base narrow to rounded; apex obtuse, acute, apiculate; abaxial surface pinkish green, scales less than, or 1–4 × their own diameter apart, unequal, reddish brown; adaxial surface sparsely scaly; midrib flat raised abaxially, slightly concave adaxially; lateral veins 8-paired, thin, inconspicuous on both surfaces. Inflorescence terminal, umbellate, 2- or 3-flowered. Flowers fragrant. Pedicel ca. 1 cm, densely scaly; calyx undeveloped, circular, densely scaly; corolla broadly funnelform, white tinged with pale red, ca. 7 cm, tube gray-white-pubescent; stamens 10, unequal, half as long as corolla lobes; filaments pubescent below; ovary 6-locular, densely scaly; style as long as corolla, sparsely scaly below. Capsule cylindric-ovoid, 15–20 mm, densely brown-scaly. Fl. Apr–May, fr. May–Nov.

Mixed forests, thickets, rocks, sometimes epiphytic on trees; 1300–1900 m. SE Xizang, NW Yunnan [NE India, N Myanmar].

Rhododendron atentsiense may not be a synonym of R. dendricola. The calyx lobes of the former taxon are comparatively well developed, up to 5 mm, and they are clearly ciliate. The type specimen of R. atentsiense is said to have been collected at close to 4000 m, which is assumed to be an error.