Shrub or rarely small tree. Branchlets without bristly hairs. Leaves mostly 4-10 cm long, elliptic to obovate, margins finely saw-toothed. Flowers in erect or drooping axillary or terminal clusters, individual flowers white or rarely pinkish; spring. Fruit round to ovoid.
SE Asia, SW China, Himalaya
Leaves more prominently serrate and generally wider based than those of P. japonica.
var. forrestii (W. Harrow) Airy Shaw from W China and Burma has new growth hairless, bright red. Leaves elliptic to lanceolate. Flowers drooping. The leaves and flowers are generally larger than those of the type.
Source: (1997). Ericaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Leaves bright red at first, fading to pink before becoming green. Flower clusters large.
