Rhododendron hemsleyanum E. H. Wilson

Shrubs or small trees, 2–9 m tall; branchlets stout, ca. 10 mm in diam. below inflorescence, puberulent. Petiole stout, 50–75 mm, sparsely glandular-hairy or glabrous; leaf blade thickly leathery, oblong to oblong-ovate, 9–21 × 4.6–10.5 cm; base auriculate-cordate; margin undulate; apex rounded; abaxial surface pale green, minutely papillate; adaxial surface dark green, somewhat shiny, glabrous; midrib prominent abaxially, grooved adaxially; lateral veins ca. 17-paired, raised abaxially. Inflorescence 7–16-flowered; rachis 55–70 mm, sparsely glandular. Pedicel 3–4 cm, glandular-hairy or glabrous; calyx purple, ca. 1.5 mm, glandular abaxially; corolla open-campanulate, fragrant, white, without flecks, ca. 6 cm, outer surface glandular at base, sometimes puberulent at base within; lobes 7, suborbicular, ca. 2 × 2.4 cm, emarginate; stamens 14–16, unequal, 2.7–4.5 cm, filaments glabrous; ovary conoid, ca. 7 mm, green, densely glandular; style ca. 4.6 cm, glandular; stigma swollen, capitate, ca. 4 mm in diam. Capsule cylindric, 18–38 × 10–15 mm. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Aug–Oct.

SC Sichuan.

Forests; 1200–1500(–2000) m.

Rhododendron hemsleyanum (波叶杜鹃) is a rhododendron species native to Mount Emei in Sichuan, China, where it grows at altitudes of 1200–1500 meters. It is a shrub or small tree that grows to 2–9 meters in height, with leathery leaves that are oblong to oblong-ovate, and 9–21 × 4.6–10.5 cm in size. Flowers are fragrant and white.