A semi-evergreen azalea 2 ft or perhaps more high, with rather horizontal branches, the young shoots covered with appressed, dark brown, linear bristles pointing towards the end of the shoot. Leaves in a tuft at the end of the twig, 1⁄3 to 11⁄2 in. long, 1⁄6 to 5⁄8 in. wide, oval, tapering and pointed, upper surface dull, dark green, lower one pale, both covered with bristly hairs. Flowers produced two to six together, each on a bristly stalk so short that the flower is almost hidden in the tuft of leaves. Calyx minute, covered with bristles. Corolla white, about 1⁄2 in. across, funnel-shaped. Stamens five. Ovary densely clad with brown bristles; style glabrous. (s. Azalea ss. Obtusum)
Native of Japan, Sakhalin, and Korea; introduced by Maries in 1878. This curious little azalea is only worth cultivating for the orange-red of its fading leaves. The flowers are insignificant.