Rhododendron brachycarpum var. tigerstedtii

Description with 21 photos. Photo: Finn Bertelsen. A rounded and compact, evergreen shrub. Very hardy regarding frost. Young shoots whitish tomentose. Leaf bud pointed. Petiole glabrous, yellowish green, to 38 mm. Leaf blade oblong elliptic to oblong obovate, flat or arched, coriaceous, to 22 cm. Leaf apex obtuse, with mucro. Leaf base obtuse to acute. Leaf adaxial side dark green, glabrous, with yellowish midrib. Leaf abaxial side brownish, with a thin, unistrate, plastered indumentum of tiny, 3-4 winged radiate hairs, not unlike dragonfly wings. Pedicel glandular/hairy close to calyx. Calyx with 5 lobes. Lobes rounded, glandular/hairy, c. 2 mm. Corolla with 5 lobes, funnel-shaped, white with yellow green blotch. Ovary ovoid, pubescent with scattered glands, with 5 loculi, c. 3 mm. Stamens 10, unequal in lenght, pubescent towards base. Style glabrous, with upwards bent yellow later reddish, disc-shaped swollen stigma. Capsule glandular/hairy, c. 20 mm. Seeds with well-developed wings and floating appendages, 2.5-2.9 mm. Native habitat: Korea. Remarks: The specimens of the garden are not based on cw-collected seeds, perhaps explaining the presence of glandular hairs on the pedicel, calyx and ovary.