4. Rhododendron subsect. Falconera (Tagg) Sleumer, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 74: 549. 1949.
杯毛杜鹃亚组 bei mao du juan ya zu
Fang Mingyuan (方明渊); David F. Chamberlain
Rhododendron ser. Falconera Tagg in J. B. Stevenson, Sp. Rhodod. 235. 1930 ["Falconeri"].
Shrubs or small trees, 3–10 m tall; young shoots stout, mostly ± tomentose, usually glabrescent. Leaf blade large, leathery, ovate to obovate-elliptic; abaxial surface with whitish, brownish or rufous 1- to 2-layered indumentum, the upper layer usually cup-shaped, the lower layer (when present) thin, sometimes compacted; adaxial surface glabrous. Inflorescence a racemose umbel, 12–20(–30)-flowered. Calyx minute, 1–3 mm; corolla tubular, funnelform to ventricose or obliquely campanulate, (5–)7–8-lobed, white, pale yellow or pink, less often magenta to purple, usually with crimson basal blotch; stamens (10–)12–18; ovary tomentose, glandular or glabrous (R. galactinum). Capsule cylindric.
Eleven species: Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, Vietnam; ten species (four endemic) in China.