Rhododendron alutaceum

Rhododendron alutaceum is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae.^[1] It is native to Tibet and southwestern China (western Sichuan, southeastern Xizang, and northwestern Yunnan), where it grows at altitudes of 3,200–4,300 m (10,500–14,100 ft). This evergreen shrub that grows to 1.5–4 m (4.9–13.1 ft) in height, with thick, leathery leaves that are oblong and broadly lanceolate to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 5–14 by 1.5–3.5 cm in size. The flowers are white to pink, with crimson spots and purplish-red basal blotch.

Rhododendron alutaceum
R. alutaceum var. russotinctum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Ericaceae
Genus:	Rhododendron
Species:	R. alutaceum
Binomial name
Rhododendron alutaceum Balf.f. & W.W.Sm.
Synonyms[1]
Rhododendron alutaceum var. alutaceum Rhododendron globigerum Balf.f. & Forrest Rhododendron roxieanum var. globigerum (Balf. f. & Forrest) D.F. Chamb.

The species was first described by Balfour and Smith in 1917.^[2]

Varieties

• R. alutaceum var. alutaceum
• R. alutaceum var. iodes (Balf. f. & Forrest) D.F. Chamb.
• R. alutaceum var. russotinctum (Balf. f. & Forrest) D.F. Chamb.