Korean rhododendron
Rhododendron mucronulatum · Ericaceae · 진달래
How to spot it
Flowers open before the leaves, and the underside of the leaf is densely covered with scales.
Look
- Leaves
- Long elliptic with a pointed tip, 4 to 7 cm long and 1.5 to 2.5 cm wide, without teeth. There are a few scales on the upper surface and dense scales beneath; the leaf stalk is 6 to 10 mm long.
- Flowers
- Blooms from late March to April before the leaves. The corolla is widely funnel-shaped, 3 to 4.5 cm across, purplish-red or pale red, with fine hairs on the outside.
- Fruit
- The capsule is cylindrical, 2 cm long, maturing in November.
- Bark
- The stem is light brown with scales.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Native (Korean Peninsula)
- Native to
- Also found in China, Inner Mongolia, Japan and the Russian Far East; in Korea it grows nationwide (from lowlands to subalpine).
- Ecology
- Grows in lowlands, high mountains, stream sides, on rocks, on barren ground and in fertile ground alike; strongly tolerates wind but is weak against air pollution, so it grows poorly in city centers. It resprouts strongly.