Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Royal Azalea

(Rhododendron schlippenbachii)

galery
en

Description

Rhododendron schlippenbachii, the royal azalea, is a species of Rhododendron native to the Korean Peninsula and adjacent regions of Manchuria (Liaoning, Nei Mongol), Japan, and the Russian Far East. It is the dominant understory shrub in many Korean hillside forests, growing at 400–1,500 m (1,300–4,900 ft) altitude. It is a dense deciduous shrub growing to 4.5 m (15 ft) in height, but more commonly 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) tall. The leaves are obovate, 4.5 cm (1.8 in) long and 2.5–4.5 cm (0.98–1.77 in) broad, with scattered glandular hairs. The flowers are white to pink, often with small red spots on the upper three petals; they are produced in late spring to early summer. The scientific name schlippenbachii is derived from Baron von Schlippenbach, a Russian officer who collected the species in 1854. Rhododendron is a very large genus of 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). It is either evergreen or deciduous and found mainly in Asia, although it is also widespread throughout lowland and montane forests in the Pacific Northwest, California, the Northeastern United States, and especially in the highlands of the Appalachian Mountains of North America. It is the national flower of Nepal, the state flower of Washington and West Virginia in the United States, the state flower of Nagaland in India, the provincial flower of Jiangxi in China and the state tree of Sikkim and Uttarakhand in India. Most species have brightly colored flowers which bloom from late winter through to early summer. Azaleas make up two subgenera of Rhododendron. They are distinguished from "true" rhododendrons by having only five anthers per flower. Rhododendron is a genus of shrubs and small to (rarely) large trees, the smallest species growing to 10–100 cm (4–40 in) tall, and the largest, R. protistum var. giganteum, reported to 30 m (100 ft) tall. The leaves are spirally arranged; leaf size can range from 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) to over 50 cm (20 in), exceptionally 100 cm (40 in) in R. sinogrande. They may be either evergreen or deciduous. In some species, the undersides of the leaves are covered with scales (lepidote) or hairs (indumentum). Some of the best known species are noted for their many clusters of large flowers. There are alpine species with small flowers and small leaves, and tropical species such as section Vireya that often grow as epiphytes. Species in this genus may be part of the heath complex in oak-heath forests in eastern North America.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Ericales
Family:Ericaceae
Genus:Rhododendron
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