Vasilis Teodoridis:
Apiaceae | Rhododendron
207. Rhododendron calophytum Franchet; Bull. Soc. Bot. France. 33: 230. 1886.
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Shrubs or trees; 2–12 m tall; bark grayish; falling off in flakes; young shoots stout; green; white-tomentose; glabrescent. Petiole 20–25 mm; glabrous; leaf blade leathery; oblong-oblanceolate to oblong-lanceolate; 11–30 x 4–7.8 cm; base cuneate; apex acute to acuminate; abaxial surface pale green; glabrous or sparsely tomentose; adaxial surface bright green; glabrous; midrib grooved adaxially; lateral veins 18–22-paired and impressed. Inflorescence racemose-umbellate; 15–30-flowered; rachis 15–20 mm; hairy. Pedicel stout; red; 2–6.5 cm; glabrous; calyx lobes 5; ca. 1.5 mm; glabrous; corolla widely campanulate; pinkish to white; with purple flecks and a basal blotch; or purple; 4–5 cm; lobes 5–7; deeply emarginate; stamens 15–22; unequal; 1.5–2.6 cm; filaments glabrous or puberulent at base; ovary ovoid; ca. 6 mm; glabrous; style ca. 3 cm; glabrous; stigma swollen; discoid; 5–6 mm in diam. Capsule obliquely ovoid; 20–45 mm; style persistent. Fl. Apr–May; fr. Sep–Oct.
Forests; 1400–4000 m. Chongqing; SE Gansu; C and N Guizhou; W Hubei; S Shaanxi; Sichuan; NE Yunnan.