Distribution of producing areas of rhododendron

Rhododendron, also known as Yingshanhong and pomegranate, is an evergreen or ordinary green shrub. It is a typical acid soil indicator plant in south-central and southwest China. Because of its bright red Corolla, it is a famous flower plant with high ornamental value. It is cultivated in parks all over the world. Let's take a look at the distribution and growing environment of rhododendron.

Distribution of producing areas of rhododendron

Azaleas are produced in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan. China's Jiangxi, Anhui and Guizhou use azaleas as provincial flowers, while Changsha, Wuxi, Jiujiang, Zhenjiang, Dali, Jiaxing and Ganzhou are designated as city flowers as many as seven or eight cities. In May 1985, rhododendron was named as the sixth of the top ten famous flowers in China.

The producing environment of rhododendron

1. Cuckoos are born under mountain shrubs or pine forests at an altitude of 500-1200 meters. They like acidic soil and do not grow well or even grow in calcareous soil. Therefore, pedologists often use rhododendron as an indicator crop of acidic soil.

2. Rhododendron likes cool, moist and ventilated semi-shady environment, which is afraid of both extreme heat and cold. The suitable temperature for growth is 12 ℃ to 25 ℃. When the summer temperature exceeds 35 ℃, the new shoots and leaves grow slowly and are in a semi-dormant state.

3. Sunscreen and shade in summer and warm and cold protection in winter. Avoid hot sun exposure, suitable for growth under scattered light with low light intensity, too strong light, young leaves are easy to burn, new leaves and old leaves scorched edge, serious will lead to plant death.

4. Rhododendron cultivated in open field in winter should take measures to prevent cold in order to ensure its safe overwintering. Among the ornamental rhododendrons, the cold resistance of rhododendron is the weakest, and the freezing injury is easy to occur when the temperature drops below 0 ℃.

The main varieties of rhododendron

There are more than 900 species of rhododendron in the world, and there have been nearly 10,000 horticultural varieties in the world for more than a century. China began to introduce rhododendron from Japan, Europe, America and other countries for cultivation in the 1920s and 1930s, and some new varieties were cultivated through hybridization. Rhododendron is divided into "five" strains, namely, spring rhododendron strain, summer rhododendron strain, western rhododendron strain, rhododendron strain, alpine rhododendron strain.

1. Spring rhododendron: spring rhododendron is native to China, and is also distributed in the Malay Peninsula and the high mountains of southern Asia. The species of evergreen rhododendron are very abundant in the mountainous areas of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and deciduous rhododendrons are distributed from northeast to South China. The natural community is distributed in high mountains and grows on shady slopes, belonging to semi-shady plants. Born in a cool climate, high air humidity, acidic soil, but not resistant to stagnant water.

2. Summer cuckoo: it grows branches and leaves first in spring and blossoms in early May-June, so it is called summer cuckoo. The main parents of summer cuckoo are said to be Gaoyue rhododendron and May rhododendron.

3. East rhododendron: East rhododendron is a variety of Japanese rhododendron and its numerous hybrid progenies. It was introduced from Japan and is called East rhododendron corresponding to western rhododendron. East rhododendron blooming in spring, it is included in spring cuckoo in some places.

4. Western rhododendron: Western rhododendron is a popular species because of its gorgeous flowers, especially Belgian rhododendron, because it is a horticultural variety hybrid between Europe and America, so it is called western rhododendron, also known as western rhododendron. After the introduction of Japanese in 1892, the name of rhododendron varieties was translated into Japanese, so the names introduced from Japan are still translated into Japanese. At the same time, a number of new varieties have been bred by cross with rhododendron in China. Therefore, there are about 200-300 varieties of rhododendron in China.

5. Alpine rhododendron: Alpine rhododendron is an alpine evergreen shrub or small tree of rhododendron family, with a height of 1-3 meters, stout branches, leaves with clusters of branches, thick leathery, 6-12 cm long and 2-5 cm wide, flowering from April to May. The flower pattern is mainly sleeve and double petals, and there are a few single petals with a florescence of about 1 month. The colors are white, pink, light red, pink, yellow and so on. Generally grow in the mountains of 600-800 meters above sea level, strong adaptability, after artificial domestication, cultivation is expected to become an evergreen ornamental plant in the garden green space.