BALFOUR—NEW SPECIES OF RHODODENDRON. 105 
whitish or greenish-white uniform scales close-pressed to the 
surface, each scale with a membranous fringe usually broader 
than the umbo which has a slight yellowish tint, midrib grooved, 
veins invisible ; under surface somewhat tawny darker or lighter 
and punctulate with a slightly raised midrib and concealed veins 
everywhere lepidote with contiguous overlapping biform scales, 
most uncoloured like those of upper surface, fewer dark brown 
on longer stalks and slightly projecting above the others their 
umbo infiltrated with red secretion, in oldest leaves more of the 
scales become infiltrated and the surface is more uniform; 
petiole about 1 mm. long punctulate lepidote. Flowers in 
I—3-flowered terminal umbels; outer bracts chestnut-brown 
ovate keeled acute mucronate lepidote outside, inside near apex 
sericeous, ciliate and at the top the hairs dense and lanate; 
innermost bracts membranous obovate-spathulate about 7 mm. 
long 3 mm. broad, with rounded mucronulate apex clad like 
the outer bracts; pedicels about 2-3 mm. long densely im- 
bricately whitely lepidote. Calyx minute barely 1 mm. long 
composed of a saucer-like cup spreading more or less horizon- 
tally 5-lobulate at the margin the lobules semi-lunate, the 
whole imbricate lepidote outside, the lobules more or less ciliate. 
Corolla lavender with a whitish centre about 1 cm. long spar- 
ingly lepidote and epilose outside; tube about 2 mm. long 
villous at the throat with an orange blotch at the base Pos- 
teriorly ; limb explanate 5-lobed ; lobes elliptic or oblong-elliptic 
rounded at apex slightly crenulate about 6 mm. long 5 mm. 
broad. Stamens 10 alternately longer and shorter, longer 
about 7 mm. long shorter about 5.5 mm., all shorter than corolla ; 
filaments white slightly widening to base which 1s orange- 
coloured, immediately above the naked base is a villous tuft 
within the corolla-tube; anthers bright red. Disk puberulous 
at top below ovary. Gynaeceum about 5 mm. long shorter 
than stamens; ovary conoid truncate grooved about 1.5 mm. 
long densely imbricately lepidote with colourless scales epilose ; 
style glabrous red clavate at the purple tip bearing the lobulate 
slightly lipped stigma. Capsule 3.5 mm. long ovoid brown and 
grizzly with dried peltate scales, dehiscing to the base by 5 valves. 
E.N.-W.-Yunnan. Mountains in the N.E. of the Yangtze bend. 
Lat. 27° 45’ N. Alt. 11,000—12,000 ft. Open situations on 
ledges of limestone cliffs. Shrub of 2-4 ft. In fruit. G. 
Forrest. No. 10,481. July 1913. 
This species of the Lapponicum series was gathered in fruit 
by Forrest in 1913. The specimens suggested its affinity with 
Rh. telmateium, Balf. f. et W. W. Sm., from the Chungtien 
plateau, but its method of branching with straight short twiggy 
shoots not intricately interwoven, its larger and more densely 
