Rhododendron tsariense Cowan

The following two varieties are may be distinguished by the indumentum, especially on the adaxial surface of the leaf blade. In cultivation the two varieties are clearly differentiated.

Shrubs, 1–3 m tall; young shoots densely pale yellow woolly-tomentose. Leaf blade thickly leathery, elliptic-oblong to obovate, 2.2–6.2 × 1–3 cm; base rounded or subcordate; margin slightly revolute; apex obtuse or shortly acuminate; abaxial surface densely rufous woolly, hairs branched; adaxial surface slightly rugulose, glabrous except for ± tomentose groove of midrib, midrib and lateral veins prominent abaxially. Inflorescence racemose-umbellate, 3–5-flowered; rachis 3–4 mm. Pedicel ca. 1 cm, densely tomentose; calyx 1–2 mm, tomentose; corolla campanulate, white or pink, with red spots, 3–3.5 cm, lobes 5; stamens 10, unequal, 1.5–2 cm, filaments pubescent at base; ovary ovoid, 5-lobed, 4–5 mm, densely tomentose; style longer than stamens, glabrous; stigma slightly expanded. Capsule cylindrical, 15–25 × 4–5 mm densely tomentose. Fl. Jun, fr. Aug.

S Xizang [E Bhutan, NE India].

Mixed forests, Rhododendron thickets, stony hillsides, rock ledges; 3200–4500 m.