Rhododendron himantodes Sleumer

Shrub up to 2 m, usually epiphytic but also terrestrial on deep peat of some summit ridges; young stems densely brown-scaly. Leaves 2–9 × 0.3–0.6 cm, linear, acute or sometimes rounded at the apex, margin entire, somewhat irregular and slightly reflexed, the base wedge-shaped; upper surface silvery scaly becoming glabrous, with an impressed midrib but no visible lateral veins; lower surface with the midrib raised throughout its length, completely covered in variably sized brown scales, the largest with dark brown swollen centres. Flowers 8–15 per umbel, horizontal or semi-erect; calyx a low rounded, scaly disc; corolla white but with a prominent and attractive pattern of brown scales outside on the tube and lobes, saucer-shaped 1.1.4 × 2.-2.7 cm; ovary densely brown-scaly, style glabrous or scaly near the base. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  Brunei Malaysia Borneo, Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan (Mt Kemul)

Habitat 1,300–2,000 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H2

Conservation status Least concern (LC)