Rhododendron kanehirae Wils.

Shrubs, deciduous, 1–3 m tall; young shoots with dense coarse brown flat appressed hairs. Summer and winter leaves different. Petiole 1–3 mm, densely coarsely castaneous strigose; leaf blade leathery, linear-lanceolate or linear-oblanceolate to obovate, 1.5–4.8 × 0.2–1.5 cm; margin coarsely strigose, entire, or with obsolete round teeth; apex obtuse to acute; both surfaces sparsely coarsely shiny brown slightly revolute strigose. Inflorescence 1–3-flowered. Pedicel 0.1–0.3 cm, erect, densely coarsely castaneous strigose, hairs flat; calyx lobes ovate to elliptic, 2–4 mm, coarsely shiny-castaneous strigose; corolla narrowly funnelform, crimson to dark red, 3.5–4 cm, tube tapering toward the base, 18–20 mm; lobes ovate or long-ovate; stamens 10, unequal, shorter than corolla; filaments linear, puberulent below; ovary ovoid, ca. 3 mm, densely coarsely castaneous setose-strigose; style longer than stamens, slightly exserted, sparsely coarsely strigose at base. Capsule long-cylindric, 6–8 mm, coarsely setose-strigose. Fl. Apr.

Mountain forests. N Taiwan.

Rhododendron kanehirai is a species of plant in the family Ericaceae. It was originally endemic to Taiwan. It has become extinct in the wild, though it still exists in cultivated form.