238 BALFOUR—NEW SPECIES OF RHODODENDRON. 
persistentibus adpressis uniformibus umbone languide flavido 
institaque alba constructis induta subtus helvola nitens squamis 
ut supra aedificatis uniformibus contiguis persistentibus lepidota 
costa media utrinque vix conspicua venisque caeteris occultis : 
petiolus circ. 2 mm. longus rufescenti-lepidotus. Flores in 
umbellam 2-floram terminalem dispositi; bracteae exteriores 
crustaceae ovatae vel rotundatae dorso lepidotae margine ciliatae 
interiores oblongae membranaceae extus pubescentes ; pedicelli 
circ. I mm. longi lepidoti; bracteolae minutissimae. Calyx 
circ. 3 mm. longus fere ad basim in lobos 5 inaequales fissus, 
cupula lepidota, lobis saepe purpureis membranaceis oblongis 
vel a basi lanceolatis vel late ovatis obtusis vel acutis dorso 
lepidotis margine apiceque pilis longis ciliatis. Corollae pur- 
pureo-coeruleae circ. 1.2 cm. longae tubus brevis circ. 4 mm. 
longus infundibuliformis extus glaber intus ad faucem pilis 
lanatis albido-villosus, limbi discus concavus angustus, lobi 
late elliptici vel subrotundati circ. 8 mm. longi extus sparse 
lepidoti. Stamina 8-10 corollam aequantia filamentis supra 
basim prope faucem tubi corollini. albo-villosis. Ovarium 
pallide viride canescens lepidotum : stylus glaber kermesinus 
corollam staminaque superans ; stigma discoideum lobulatum. 
Capsulae circ. 5 mm. longae lepidotae pars inferior calyce 
inclusa. 
Species fastigiata Rh. polifolio, Franch. affinis sed habitu, 
foliorum. forma, corollae lobis extus lepidotis fauceque dense 
villoso diversa. 
Yunnan. Mountains of the Chungtien plateau. Lat. 
27° 30’ N. Alt. 13,000-14,000 ft. Open ledges of cliffs and 
stony pasture. G. Forrest. No. 12,623. July r914. Cushion 
shrub 12-16 ins. Flowers deep purplish blue, throat white. 
A remarkably floriferous species of the Lapponicum series 
with short not virgate branches. It comes near Rh. polifolium, 
Franch., but that species is an erect grower, with longer shoots, 
smaller’flowers, and its corolla is not lepidote outside. Moreover, 
whilst the throat of the corolla in Rh. polifohum is pubescent 
and its stamens slightly pubescent above the base, there is not 
the conspicuous white villous tuft as in Rh. idoneum, Balf. f. et 
W. W. Sm. _ Rh. idoneum is the only species with lepidote 
corolla in a small group of the Lapponicum series which 
have contiguous grey-white or leather-coloured under-leaf indu- 
mentum of a shiny uniform character and not punctulate, and 
thus may readily be distinguished. In addition to Rh. polifolium, 
the allied species are Rh. blepharocalyx, Franch., Rh. intricatum, 
Franch., Rh. hippophaeoides, Balf. {. et W. W. Sm., and Rh. 
Websterianum, Rehder et Wilson. 
also p. 300. 
