Rhododendrons usually bloom in spring, with 2-6 flowers in each cluster. Corolla is funnel-shaped, with red, pink, apricot, snow blue, white and so on. , the color is lush and gorgeous. Born under sparse thickets or pine forests in mountainous areas at an altitude of 500-1200 (-2,500) meters, it is a typical indicator plant of acidic soil in south-central and southwest China.
This whole plant is used as medicine: it can promote qi and blood circulation, tonify deficiency, treat cough due to internal injury, deafness due to kidney deficiency, irregular menstruation and rheumatism. Because the corolla is bright red, it is a famous flower plant with high ornamental value and is cultivated in parks all over the world. After years of cultivation, there are a large number of cultivated varieties of rhododendron, with many colors and diverse shapes, including single petals and double petals.
Rhododendron is the provincial flower in Jiangxi, Anhui and Guizhou, and as many as seven or eight cities such as Changsha, Wuxi, Jiujiang, Zhenjiang, Dali, Jiaxing and Ganzhou have been designated as city flowers. 1985 In May, Rhododendron was rated as six of the top ten flowers in China.
Morphological characteristics of deciduous shrubs, 2(-5) meters high; Branches numerous and slender, densely bright brown strigose. Leaves leathery, often branched, ovate, oval or obovate or obovate to oblanceolate, long1.5-5cm, wide 0.5-3cm, short apex, wedge-shaped or broad wedge-shaped base, slightly curled edge, thin teeth, dark green, sparse and rough upper surface, pale white lower surface, densely brown and rough, and midvein on upper surface. Petiole 2-6 mm long, densely covered with bright brown flat strigose.
The bud is oval, and the scales are strigose on the outside and above the middle, with stripes on the edges. 2-3(-6) clusters of flowers; Pedicel 8 mm long, densely bright brown strigose; Calyx 5-parted, lobes triangular-ovate, 5 mm long, strigose, with eyelashes at the edge; Corolla is funnel-shaped, rose-colored, bright red or dark red, 3.5-4 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide, 5 lobes, obovate, 2.5-3 cm long, with crimson spots on the upper lobe; Stamens 10, about the same length as corolla, filiform flowers, puberulent below the middle; Ovary ovoid, 10 room, densely bright brown and strigose, style protruding from corolla, glabrous.
Capsule ovoid, 65438 0 cm long, densely strigose; Calyx persistent. The flowering period is April-May and the fruiting period is June-August.
Growing environment and distribution: China, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan Province, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan.
Rhododendron likes a cool, humid and ventilated semi-shady environment, and is often born under sparse shrubs or pine forests in mountainous areas at an altitude of 500-1200 (-2,500) meters. It likes acidic soil and doesn't grow well or even grow in calcareous soil. Therefore, soil scientists often regard rhododendron as an indicator crop of acidic soil. There are certain requirements for growth conditions, both afraid of extreme heat and cold. The optimum growth temperature is 65438 02℃ to 25℃. When the temperature exceeds 35℃ in summer, the new shoots and leaves grow slowly and are in a semi-dormant state.
Sun protection is required in summer, and attention should be paid to keeping warm and cold in winter. Avoid exposure to the scorching sun, and it is suitable for growth under scattered light with low light intensity. If the light is too strong, the young leaves will be easily burned, and the old leaves will also be scorched, which will lead to plant death in severe cases. Cold-proof measures should be taken when planting rhododendron in the open field in winter to ensure its safe overwintering. Among the ornamental rhododendrons, Rhododendron occidentalis has the weakest cold resistance, and freezing injury is easy to occur when the temperature drops below 0℃.
The main value increment of main varieties
Rhododendron is an excellent bonsai material with rich leaves, beautiful and colorful, strong germination, pruning resistance and strange roots. Gardens are most suitable for planting in clusters near forest edges, streams, Chi Pan and rocks, or scattered under sparse forests. Rhododendron is also a good material for hedges, and Mao Juan can also be pruned and cultivated into various forms. Rhododendron Garden has its own characteristics. Dark green leaves are suitable for planting as low walls or barriers in the garden. Even though azaleas always give people a lively and noisy feeling when they are in full bloom, they are not in the flower season.
officinal
Root (Rhododendron root): sour, sweet and warm. Promoting blood circulation and relieving pain, expelling wind and relieving pain. Used for hematemesis, epistaxis, menoxenia, metrorrhagia, rheumatalgia, and traumatic injury. Leaves (Rhododendron leaves): sour, flat. Clearing away heat and toxic materials and stopping bleeding. Used for carbuncle, swelling, furuncle, traumatic hemorrhage and addiction rash. Flowers (azaleas): sour, sweet and warm. Promoting blood circulation and regulating menstruation, expelling wind and removing dampness. Used for irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, metrorrhagia, traumatic injury, rheumatalgia, hematemesis and epistaxis.
The medicine is bad and dumb: flowers and fruits treat irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, traumatic injury, rheumatalgia, hematemesis and epistaxis; Root therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, traumatic injury, metrorrhagia, intestinal wind bleeding and amenorrhea.
economy
Some flowers can be used as medicine or extracted from aromatic oil, some flowers can be eaten, bark and leaves can be used as baking glue, and wood can be used as handicrafts. Rhododendron alpine has developed roots and is a good plant for soil and water conservation.
Poetic nature of plant culture
Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, many poems have been sung by poets and poets. Beautiful azaleas always shine in Shan Ye and are decorated in gardens, which have won people's favor since ancient times. From Tang and Song poets Bai Juyi, Du Mu, Su Dongpo and Xin Qiji to Ming and Qing Dynasties, Yang Sheng 'an and Emperor Kangxi all praised azaleas. When Li Bai, a great poet, saw the azaleas and remembered the azaleas in his hometown, he wrote a well-known poem.
Look at the azaleas in Xuancheng (Li Bai)
Shu once heard of Zigui birds and Xuancheng saw azaleas.
One is called, one is ileum, one is broken, and March is three memories.
Rhododendron (Heshui Zuo)
Smoke clouds are more beautiful than mountains and more beautiful than rainbows.
Looking back at Shu county to wake up from dreams, sprinkling blood and reflecting the mountain red.
To Zizhou Ambassador Li (Wang Wei)
Towering mountains, towering trees, cuckoo singing in the depths of Qian Shan.
The spring rain in the mountains has not stopped all night, and the trees on the treetops are spring.
suggestion
There is also a beautiful and bizarre legend about azaleas and rhododendrons. According to legend, Du Yu, the ancient king of Shu, loved the people very much. He lived in seclusion after meditation and became a cuckoo after his death, so people called him a cuckoo. Every spring, the cuckoo will fly to wake people up. Spread the grain quickly! "Mouth with blood cried out, blood spilled on the ground, dyed red azaleas all over the mountain.
The azaleas all over the mountain were dyed with the blood of thousands of martyrs in Qian Qian. It records the tragic War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Rhododendron has been integrated into China's long history and culture, and has become an ornament of history.
city flower
China Changsha, Wuxi, Jiujiang, Zhenjiang, Dali, Jiaxing, Ganzhou and other cities.
(2015) On June 25th, the Standing Committee of the Fourth People's Congress of Ganzhou held its 27th meeting. The meeting deliberated and adopted the decision of the Standing Committee of Ganzhou Municipal People's Congress on determining the tree and city flower in Ganzhou, and azalea (Rhododendron) was taken as the city flower.