This is an azalea, any you can see a lot of buds with a dry, stiff brown cap over a lot of the buds which are about to flower. Any idea what they do? I have pulled several of them off and I don't see what function they could have.

The azalea was growing beside the house when we moved in in 1986. I dug it up last year, put it in a pot this year, and have some great dead trunk to work on. In a couple of weeks I will do some shaping, but right now I just want it to rest, recover, and flower. I is about a meter tall and a little wider than tall, and is going to look pretty good. I will show progress pictures.