''Rhododendron asterochnoum'' (汶川星毛杜鹃) is a

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

native to western

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, where it grows at altitudes of . This small tree reaches in height, with leathery leaves that are broadly

oblanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

, rarely oblong-elliptic, and 17–26 × 3–9 cm in size. The flowers are pale pink or white.

Lower taxa

Two variants are recognized: *''Rhododendron asterochnoum'' var. ''asterochnoum'' *''Rhododendron asterochnoum'' var. ''brevipedicellatum'' W.K.Hu

References

Sources

* Diels, ''Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg''. 17: 196. 1921.
Plants of the World Online
asterochnoum {{Ericaceae-stub