Rhododendron pumilum Hook. fil.

Dwarf shrubs, evergreen, (0.05–)0.1(–0.25) m tall; branches long, prostrate, creeping or spreading, scaly. Petiole 1–2 mm, scaly; leaf blade leathery, ovate, elliptic, orbicular or obovate-elliptic, 0.8–1.9 × 0.4–1.2 cm; base rounded; apex rounded, mucronulate; abaxial surface pale grayish green, scales 2–3 (or more) × their own diameter apart, small, golden, brown, or dark brown; adaxial surface dark green, usually scaly. Inflorescence 1–3-flowered. Pedicel 1–2.6 cm, densely scaly, in fruit to 6 cm, rigid and erect; calyx reddish to purplish red, deeply 5-lobed; lobes 1–3 mm, ovate or oblong-ovate, persisting to enclose mature capsule, scaly, sparsely ciliate; corolla campanulate, pinkish purple to purple, 0.8–2.1 cm, outer surface sparsely scaly, pubescent; stamens 10, filaments densely pubescent towards base; ovary ovoid, densely scaly; style straight, shorter than stamens, ca. 1/2 as long as corolla, glabrous. Capsule ovoid or cylindric-ovoid, 6–13 mm, densely scaly. Fl. Apr–Jun, fr. Jul–Sep.

E. Himalaya (Nepal to Bhutan), N. Assam.

SE Xizang, NW Yunnan [Bhutan, NE India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim].

3500-4200 m

Alpine turf slopes, open hillsides, banks, rocks; 3300–4300 m.