Rhododendron rex ssp. rex

One of the very few, big-leafed species being fairly hardy in our garden – in shelter and shadow. The indumentum seems to be composed of three layers. An inner light-colored, thin, felty layer into which a layer of brownish funnel-shaped ‘hairs’ are ‘planted’. Finally there is a superficial loose web of colorless fibres.The funnel hairs are typical for members of Falconera. Native habit: SW Sichuan og N Yunnan, China at 2300 -3300 m (Flora of China, www. efloras.org). We found the species twice in 2013, in Gesala and on Long Zhou Shan, and later  in 2018 and 2019 in Kang Wu, north of Muli.