Rhododendron decorum parvistigmaticum

Description

Rhododendron decorum, the great white rhododendron is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae. It is an evergreen shrub native to high forested regions of northern Myanmar and Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang, and Yunnan, China growing at altitudes of 1,800–4,000 m (5,900–13,100 ft). Depending on the growing environment (either temperate or sub-alpine forest) it can be found as a shrub or small tree of 1–6 m (3.3–19.7 ft), with leathery leaves that are oblong, oblong-ovate or oblong-elliptic in shape and between 5–19 cm in length and 3–11 cm in width. Flowers are borne in trusses, white to pale pink, with a yellow throat, large and very fragrant. It was first described by French botanist Adrien René Franchet in 1886.