Abstract: In order to protect Rhododendron polylepis, an endemic species in China, the habitat condition, species composition, life composition, structural characteristics and species diversity of R. polylepis were investigated. The results showed that R. polylepis distributed widely, ranging from 1800 m to 3200 m above sea level, and it was a vegetation type with wide ecological range in the forest. There were 47 species of Rhododendrons belonging to 35 genera and 22 families in three different elevations. R . polylepis was composed of many life-form plants, among which high-bud plants and aboveground-bud plants were the dominant ones. From the perspective of vertical structure, R. polylepis community was distributed in the tree layer, shrub layer, and herbaceous layer, and the stratification phenomenon was obvious. R. polylepis and Fargesia ferax were the dominant species in the shrub layer. The biodiversity of R . polylepis community was the highest in the herbaceous layer, and the dominant species in the tree layer in the high altitude area showed a decreasing trend with the decrease of altitude. The species richness index, diversity index, dominance index and evenness index of R . polylepis community at different elevations showed the identical feature: herbaceous layer > shrub layer > tree layer. There was a postive relationship between species diversity and species richness. The higher the species diversity, the better the community stability.