Rhododendron impeditum

Description with 18 photos. Photo: Finn Bertelsen. A low, compact, evergreen shrub. Young shoots brownish, densely scaly. Petiole scaly, c. 2 mm. Leaf blade ovate to elliptic, 6 – 10 (12) mm. Leaf apex acute to acute-obtuse, with mucro. Leaf base rounded cuneate. Leaf adaxial side green with reflecting dots of dense, bright scales. Leaf abaxial side pale greenish, scaly with a mixture of colourless and lighter/darker, amber-coloured scales, 0-1 x their diam. apart,180 – 240 micrs. Inflorescence commonly with 3 – 5 flowers. Pedicel scaly, c. 1 mm. Calyx with 5 lobes. Lobes lingulate, ciliate, 1.8 – 2.1 mm. Corolla with 5 lobes, funnel-shaped, pubescent in the throat, purple-blue, 14 mm wide, 6 mm deep. Ovary scaly and puberulent, 1.8 mm. Stamens 10. Filaments pubescent towards base, blue-coloured, 4-5 mm. Anthers brown, 1.3 mm. Style straight, glabrous and red, 4-5 mm, slightly shorter than stamens, with disc-shaped stigma, 0.6 mm. Capsule scaly and puberulent, 4-5 mm. Seeds almost wingless and with tiny floating appendages, 0.8 – 1.1 mm. Locality of origin (FB10-2018): Changhaizi, Muli County, Sichuan, 3700m. Native habitat: SW Sichuan and NW Yunnan, China at 2500-4600 m according to Flora of China.