Rhododendron cantabile I. B. Balfour ex Hutchinson.

Small shrubs, sometimes cushions or semiprostrate, 0.3–1.5 m tall, usually intricately branched; young shoots scaly. Petiole 1–6(–9) mm, scaly; leaf blade oblong-elliptic, oblong to ovate, 11.6–4(–6.5) × 0.6–1.7 cm; base cuneate; apex rounded or obtuse, mucronate; abaxial surface scales contiguous or overlapping, 2-colored, dark brown and yellow, or uniformly red-brown or brown; adaxial surface pale or dark green, densely scaly. Inflorescence (4–)6–10(–15)-flowered. Pedicel 1–2(–5) cm, scaly; calyx greenish or reddish purple; lobes 3–6 mm, oblong or ovate, persistent in fruit, scales sparse or absent, margin usually ciliate and sometimes also with a few scales; corolla broadly funnelform, deep blue, purple, pink or rose, (1–)1.3–2 cm, tube 4–9 mm, outer surface glabrous or puberulous, throat pubescent; stamens (5–)10, filaments pubescent towards base; ovary ca. 2 mm, scaly; style 1.4–2 cm, longer than stamens, pubescent for up to 1/2 its length. Capsule ovoid, 4–6 mm, densely scaly, usually with persistent apical hairs. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Sep.

Forest margins, Rhododendron scrub, alpine pastures, rocky slopes, cliffs; (2500–)3400–4300 m. SW Sichuan, N Yunnan [Myanmar].