Rhododendron sutchuenense Franch.

Shrubs or small trees, 1–8 m tall; young shoots usually ca. 8 mm in diam. below inflorescence, green, thinly tomentose. Petiole 20–30 mm, floccose when young, glabrescent; leaf blade leathery, oblong-lanceolate, 10–22 × 3–7 cm; base cuneate; apex obtuse or rounded; abaxial surface pale, persistently whitish floccose along midrib, otherwise glabrous; adaxial surface deep green, glabrous when mature; midrib prominent abaxially, grooved adaxially; lateral veins 17–22-paired. Inflorescence 8–10-flowered; rachis 10–15 mm, glabrous. Pedicel stout, 1–1.3 cm, white-puberulent; calyx lobes 5, ca. 2.2 mm, glabrous; corolla funnel-campanulate, rose, with deep rose flecks, ca. 5 cm, densely puberulent within; lobes 5(or 6), ca. 1.8 cm, emarginate; stamens 15–16, 2.5–3.5 cm, filaments pubescent at base; ovary conoid, ca. 7 mm, glabrous; style glabrous; stigma discoid, pink, ca. 3 mm in diam. Capsule oblong slightly curved, 18–36 mm. Fl. Apr–May, fr. Aug–Oct.

Chongqing, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, NW Hubei, NW Hunan, S Shaanxi.

Forests; 1600–2300 m.