Rhododendron tutcherae Hemsl. & E. H. Wilson

The label of the type specimen describes the corolla as violet.

Trees, up to 15 m tall; branches slender, sparsely setose and pubescent when young, shortly setose or glabrescent when mature. Petiole stout, ca. 10 mm, sparsely setose; leaf blade thickly leathery, narrowly oblanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 8–13 × 1.8–3 cm; base cuneate or broadly cuneate; margin slightly revolute; apex shortly caudate-acuminate; abaxial surface entirely glabrous or sparsely short-setose; midrib and lateral veins impressed above, prominent below. Inflorescence subapical, 1–3-flowered, rachis ca. 4 mm, puberulent. Pedicel 1.5–2 cm, sparsely reddish setose or glabrous; calyx shallowly lobed, small; corolla narrowly funnelform, cherry-red, 3–4.5 cm, tube subcylindrical, ca. 10 mm; lobes spreading, elliptic, ca. 2.5 cm, apex obtuse or rounded; stamens 10, unequal, slightly shorter than corolla, filaments puberulent below; ovary cylindric, truncate at apex ca. 9 mm, glabrous or upper part coarsely appressed-puberulent; style glabrous. Capsule cylindric, apex truncate, 30–40 × 5–6 mm. Fl. Mar–Apr, fr. Sep–Nov.

S Yunnan [N Vietnam].

Evergreen broad-leaved forests, subalpine forests, woods; 1200–2000 m.