Rhododendrons

Rhododendron kesangiae
Grandia group B
Epithet: after the queen of Bhutan.
H4
Height: upright shrub or small tree 3-12m high.
Flowers: usually compact, 15-25/truss, campanulate, 30-47mm long, rose or pink, fading to pale pink or almost white, with nectar pouches.
April-May.
Leaves: 190-305mm x 95-160mm, broadly elliptic to obovate, apex rounded or almost truncate, with a short mucro; upper surface with detersile discontinuous thin white tomentum appearing as mica-like patches, glabrous at maturity; underside with a densely matted white indumentum, sometimes with a floccose layer or whitish or brownish-fawn dendroid hairs, ofetn brownish on old leaves.
Distribution: Bhutan, 2900-3500m.