A dwarf evergreen shrub usually 6 to 12 in. high, perhaps ultimately 18 in.; young shoots scurfy, with reddish scales. Leaves roundish ovate, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long, half or more than half as wide, dark green above, pale beneath, both surfaces covered with glistening scales; leaf-stalk distinctly formed, but only 1⁄12 in. long. Flowers in terminal trusses of frequently five or six; each flower 5⁄8 in. across, violet-purple in the bud state, becoming paler and lilac-coloured after opening. Calyx-lobes five, short, triangular. Corolla with a short tube and five rounded, spreading lobes. Stamens ten, almost entirely included within the corolla-tube, downy at the base. Style shorter than stamens. Bot. Mag., t. 8163. (s. Lapponicum)
R. intricatum was discovered by the Abbé Soulié in W. Szechwan in 1895, some way to the west of Kangting (Tatsien-lu), and was introduced by Wilson in 1904 when collecting for Messrs Veitch. Only three years later, in April 1907, that firm exhibited seedlings a few inches high but full of flower, and the species was straightway awarded a First Class Certificate (but under the erroneous name R. nigropunctatum). It was later reintroduced from the Muli area of S.W. Szechwan by Forrest and by Kingdon Ward.
This rhododendron makes a neat little bush of rounded form suggesting a pygmy tree, and it flowers when only a few inches high; this, together with the colour of the flowers and the profusion in which they are borne, render it a singularly attractive little plant for the rock garden or some such place, where tiny, slow-growing plants are not in danger of being smothered by stronger ones. Coming from high Alpine regions, it is quite hardy.
R. peramabile Hutch. – In describing this species, Dr Hutchinson remarked that it could be no more than a ‘luxurious state’ of R. intricatum. The type is a cultivated plant, raised from Forrest 20463, the field-specimen corresponding to which is R. yungningense. It grows up to 21⁄2 ft high and has leaves 1⁄2 to almost 1 in. long.