Rhododendron multinervium Sleumer

Shrub or small tree to 3 m, terrestrial or epiphytic, the young stems at first with scattered brown scales. Leaves 5–8 × 3.5–6 cm, narrowly obovate, obovate or elliptic, the apex obtuse or obtusely acuminate, the margin flat or minutely turned down, very narrowly cartilaginous, the base broadly to narrowly tapering; the upper surface minutely scaly but quickly glabrous, the midrib slightly impressed, the laterals finely raised 10–14 pairs, rather regularly parallel with each other; underside with the midrib strongly raised to just over half way, the laterals obscure, not raised, scales well spaced, circular to lobed, small and impressed in shallow pits in the surface. Flowers 3–7 per umbel, semi-erect to horizontal; calyx a low scaly ring; corolla white, powerfully scented of clove pinks, trumpet-shaped but rather compressed laterally, with the tube strongly angled, 5–6.5 × 3–3.5 cm, finely substellate-scaly on the outside; stamens 10, protruding from the mouth of the flower and bending downwards as a group as the flower ages; ovary densely scaly, the style glabrous, becoming well exserted from the mouth of the flower. Royal Horticultural Society (1997)

Distribution  Papua New Guinea Western Highlands Province, Eastern Highland Province and Sepik River area

Habitat 1,300–2,000 m

RHS Hardiness Rating H2

Conservation status Least concern (LC)