Exuberant. Japanese Azalea, Rhododendron molle, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
As far as I know the first to describe this exuberantly orange Azalea was the well-known German-Dutch botanist Carl Ludwig Blume (1796-1862). He wrote his short description in 1823 almost immediately after becoming director of 's-Lands Plantentuin (Kebun Raya) in what was then Buitenzorg, today Bogor on Java, Indonesia. There has been some confusion about the provenance of our shrub, whether China or Japan. Apparently both varieties are so alike that the scientific name on which scientists agree is Rhododendron molle (Blume) G. Don, subsp. japonicum Kron.
If you want to learn more go to the fine article - including great maps - by Kathleen Anne Kron (1956-) in the Edinburgh Journal of Botany 1993, pp.279-281. Worth a read.
Exuberant. Japanese Azalea, Rhododendron molle, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
As far as I know the first to describe this exuberantly orange Azalea was the well-known German-Dutch botanist Carl Ludwig Blume (1796-1862). He wrote his short description in 1823 almost immediately after becoming director of 's-Lands Plantentuin (Kebun Raya) in what was then Buitenzorg, today Bogor on Java, Indonesia. There has been some confusion about the provenance of our shrub, whether China or Japan. Apparently both varieties are so alike that the scientific name on which scientists agree is Rhododendron molle (Blume) G. Don, subsp. japonicum Kron.
If you want to learn more go to the fine article - including great maps - by Kathleen Anne Kron (1956-) in the Edinburgh Journal of Botany 1993, pp.279-281. Worth a read.