14 THE AZALEAS OF THE OLD WORLD 



on high mountains from Shikoku and central Hondo north to central 

 Hokkaido, and in Korea found on the summit of the Chiri-san. All in 

 all the most widely spread, most variable, most spectacularly beautiful 

 and most useful of the red-flowered Japanese Azaleas is R. obtusum 

 and its variety Kaempferi. 



In Korea, from Chiri-san in the extreme south of the peninsula to 

 fifty miles north of Gensan, grows R. Schlippenbachii. It is partial to 

 rocky places and thickets and often in thin woods it is the dominant 

 undergrowth. On the famous Diamond Mountains in northeastern 

 Korea it is particularly plentiful in mixed, rather open woods and on 

 cliffs; in early summer its myriads of blossoms literally form sheets of 

 pure pink for miles and miles. On exposed cliffs the habit is stiff and 

 sturdy, but in the shade of trees the branches are slender. On Chiri- 

 san it is usually a tree-like bush, four metres tall, and it is on this 

 mountain range that this Azalea reaches its maximum size. On bare, 

 grass-clad and shrub-clad slopes and inline-woods from the latitude of 

 Seoul southward to the island of Quelpaert R. yedoense var. pouk- 

 hanense abounds. In full exposure it ofte forms low mats several 

 yards wide, but among shrubs it is occasionally 1.5 m. tall. This and 

 R. Weyrichii are the only species that grow on Quelpaert, and the 

 last-named is unknown on the mainland of Korea. 



In China the red-flowered R. Simsii is wild from the coast to the 

 extreme west, the valley of the Yangtsze River being the northern limit 

 of its range. In many places it is extraordinarily abundant, and in 

 May whole hillsides are red with its flowers. This species is wild in 

 the extreme south of Formosa, and a well-marked variety (eriocarpum) 

 is endemic on the Kawanabe Islands off northern Liukiu. This is the 

 only Chinese species known to grow wild outside of China proper, but 

 phylogenetically it and R. obtusum may be considered of common 

 origin, and to these China and Japan owe the wealth of brilliant red 

 color, so dominant a feature in their spring landscapes. The lovely 

 yellow-flowered R. moUe, better known under Sweet's name of R. si- 

 nense, is found on open hillsides from the coast near Ningpo to Ichang 

 in central China. It is a social plant though local in distribution. 

 R. Mariesii grows in thickets and thin woods from Fokien to western 

 Hupeh and also in Formosa, but its near relative R. Farrerae is confined 

 to Hongkong and a few places in the neighboring province of Kwan- 

 tung. On open mountains in western Yunnan the small-flowered 

 R. microphyton is abundant; this is the most alpine of the Chinese 

 species and, with the little known R. atrovirens, is the most western of 



