Rhododendron rubineiflorum Craven

Shrub to 0.2 m, epiphytic or creeping on peaty banks, young stems densely rough scaly the scales fairly persistent. Leaves 0.5–1 × 0.2–0.5 cm, ovate to elliptic, broadly elliptic, to occasionally subcircular the apex acute to obtuse, rarely rounded, often sub-acuminate, the margin recurved, rather cartilaginous, often erose, subserrate in the upper part, the base tapering to rounded; upper surface with a slightly impressed midrib near the base, or quite smooth, the laterals obscure, with a few small scales on the upper surfaces at first but quickly glabrescent; below the midrib slightly raised near the base, the laterals obscure, scales well spaced, brown, irregularly lobed to sub-entire. Flowers solitary, hanging; calyx a low scaly ring; corolla red, campanulate, 2–2.5 × 2.5–3 cm, conspicuously scaly on the tube outside; stamens 10, evenly arranged around the mouth of the flower; ovary densely hairy and scaly, style at the base hairy and scaly, glabrous in the upper half. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  Papua New Guinea Widespread, not yet recorded from Irian Jaya

Habitat 2,600–3,400 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H2

Conservation status Vulnerable (VU)