Bell Guras

Rhododendron is a genus of 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae family. It is either evergreen or deciduous having wide distribution in Asia. In India, the genus Rhododendron is represented by about 80 species. It is distributed mainly in different regions and altitudes of Himalayas with a greater concentration in the temperate region of the Eastern Himalayas.

The Bell Guras is a wild species of Rhodendron mainly found in the Himalayan alpine region of Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal. It forms a small tree and can attain a height of 6 mtr on maturity; leaves are broadly elliptic to oval, dark glossy green above, with brown felted wolly hair below. Vibrant bell-shaped flowers are pale mauve to rosy-purple, rarely white, purple spotted inside. It mostly grows on the stony alpine slopes and ledges.