Vasilis Teodoridis:
Apiaceae | Rhododendron
331. Rhododendron argyrophyllum Franchet; Bull. Soc. Bot. France. 33: 231. 1886.
???? yin ye du juan
Small trees or shrubs; 3–7 m tall; bark grayish; rough; shoots greenish; glabrous when young. Petiole slender; 15–35 mm; glabrescent; leaf blade leathery or thickly leathery; narrowly elliptic or oblong-lanceolate; 8–13 x 2–4 cm; base cuneate; margin entire and slightly reflexed; apex acute; abaxial surface indumentum thin silvery-white felty to fawn plastered; adaxial surface deep green; slightly floccose when young; glabrous when mature; midrib prominent abaxially; grooved adaxially; lateral veins 12–14-paired; obscure on both surfaces. Inflorescence lax; 6–9-flowered; rachis 10–15 mm; rufous tomentose. Pedicel 1.5–3.5 cm; pubescent; calyx lobes 5; ca. 2 mm; corolla funnel-campanulate or campanulate; narrow or broad at base; white or pink; with purple or rose spots within on upper part; 2.5–3.5 cm; lobes 5; obovate; ca. 1 x 1.5 cm; emarginate; stamens 12–15(–16); unequal; 1.2–2.5 cm; filaments tomentose at base; ovary cylindric-oblong; ca. 8 mm; with white or grayish indumentum; style ca. 1.8 cm; glabrous; stigma capitate. Capsule cylindric; usually curved; 18–25 x ca. 6 mm; pubescent when young. Fl. Apr–May; fr. Jul–Aug.
Forests; thickets; 1600–2300 m. E and NW Guizhou; S and W Sichuan; NE Yunnan.
Three subspecies may be recognized in China. In addition; var. glabriovarium M. Y. He (Acta Phytotax. Sin. 35: 66. 1997); described from C Sichuan (Dayi); needs to be considered. It differs from typical Rhododendron argyrophyllum in having the pistil longer than the corolla and in the glabrous ovary and style.