Identification and appreciation of the national grade II rare and endangered species | the sulfur rhododendron on the epiphytic ancient tree
Text: Mr. Hanaki
"Eight Songs of Flower Songs (Ding You), Its Six Yellow Rhododendrons"
[Late Ming and early Qing Dynasties] Wang Fuzhi
The chirping bird is sad and restless, and the idleness is shallow.
Eyebrows are new and want to try to be happy, and Eun Seol is waiting to add makeup.
Wine-colored warblers and feathers, spring love stays in the willow fragrance.
Worried about the emperor, talk about learning ochre robe yellow.
Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), also known as Jiang Zhai and Xitang, after the death of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Fuzhi actively participated in the anti-Qing uprising, and in his later years Wang Fuzhi lived in seclusion in Shichuanshan, wrote a biography, and signed himself as a sick man of Chuanshan and nanyue, and scholars called him "Mr. Chuanshan".
Wang Fuzhi, along with Gu Yanwu and Huang Zongxi, is known as the three major thinkers of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and this poem was written in the eleventh year of the Southern Ming Dynasty (14th year of Shunzhi, 1657), when Wang Fuzhi visited his friend Liu Jinlu in western Hunan Province, expressing idle and melancholy feelings. In the poem, the "ochre robe yellow" pun refers to both the flower color of the yellow azalea and the "Tianzi" emperor robe, to the effect that the yellow cuckoo is probably infatuated with the Shu Emperor, but there is no cry of blood for the red cuckoo, but first wear the yellow emperor's robe.
There are many poems that have ariad rhododendron in ancient times, but there are not many arias of yellow rhododendron, this is because the yellow rhododendron is one of the famous poisonous plants, and the "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that sheep will walk unsteadily after eating this plant, fall to the ground and die, so the name is also called "sheep stomping", "sheep flower", "sheep do not eat grass", "sheep flower" and so on.
Although the yellow rhododendron is poisonous, its flowers are beautiful, brightly colored, graceful and luxurious, so it is one of the excellent parents of many modern rhododendron horticultural varieties, with high economic value and ornamental value. On June 25, 1991, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a special stamp number t.162 "Rhododendron", the second of which was the yellow rhododendron with a face of 15 points, which can be seen in its special status in the rhododendron family.
Yellow rhododendron is a unique species of rhododendron in China, Latin scientific name: rhododendron molle (blume) g. don, mainly distributed in East china and South China and southwest China, and the yellow cuckoo is similar to the pure yellow rhododendron (Latin scientific name: rhododendron chrysodoron tagg ex hutch.), mainly distributed in northwestern Yunnan, southeastern Tibet, and also distributed in northeast Myanmar.
Pure yellow cuckoo
Yellow cuckoo
The differences between yellow cuckoo and pure yellow cuckoo are simply:
1. Deciduous or not: Yellow rhododendron belongs to deciduous shrubs, 0.5-2 meters high; pure yellow rhododendron belongs to evergreen small shrubs, 0.2-1.7 meters high.
2, the difference between flowers: yellow rhododendron flowers are large and multiply, up to 13 flowers, corolla wide funnel-shaped, yellow or golden yellow, with dark red spots inside, corolla tube to the base of the tapering, cylindrical; pure yellow rhododendron is slightly smaller, with 3-6 flowers, the corolla is wide bell-shaped, bright yellow.
3. The flowering period is different: the flowering period of the yellow rhododendron is earlier, from March to May; while the flowering period of the pure yellow rhododendron is May.
Although the yellow rhododendron and the pure yellow rhododendron are both famous species of rhododendron, if you talk about the rarity of the natural population, it is not as good as another kind of yellow rhododendron, this yellow rhododendron although the flowers are smaller, but the flower color is delicate, and the distribution is narrow, the population is sparse, facing endangerment, and is protected by the relevant national laws and regulations, which is - sulfur rhododendron.
Rhododendronsulfureum franch.) is found in western Yunnan, Tibet and northeastern Myanmar, china, where it grows in shrublands or forests at altitudes of 2500–4000 m.
【Plant】 Evergreen shrub, usually epiphytic, 0.3-1.6 m tall; twigs are often dense, scaled, and often bristles; leaf bud scales fall off; leaf leathery, inverted ovate, ovate, oblong inverted ovate, oval to inverted lanceolate, round or blunt at the apex, glossy or dark green on the top, grayish white below, densely scaled, brown.
【Flowers and fruits】Apical umbel-shaped inflorescence, with 4-8 flowers, the peduncle is densely covered with scales; the calyx is 5 lobes deep, the lobes are ovate to oblong, membranous, yellowish-green, the corolla is broad and bell-shaped, bright yellow or dark sulfur yellow, thin green with orange-orange bands; 5 lobes, nearly rounded lobes, orange-yellow spots above, scales on the outside of the flower tube, short, stout, basal strength curved arch, scales; capsules oblong ovate, densely covered with scales, calyxes that are stored in the calyx; late April to June flowering.
Sulfur rhododendron
Rhododendron sulphur and rhododendron are small evergreen shrubs, while rhododendron yellow is a deciduous shrub, which is easier to distinguish. However, the sulfur rhododendron and the yellow rhododendron are more difficult to distinguish, the origin is the same, the plant shape and the flowers are very similar, the most obvious difference, we can observe the corolla:
1. Sulfur rhododendron flowers are bright yellow, bright yellow, flowing yellow, the corolla is wide bell-shaped, and there are orange-yellow spots on the top;
2. Pure yellow rhododendron is bright yellow in color, and the corolla is wide and bell-shaped, without spots;
3. Yellow rhododendron yellow or golden yellow, corolla wide funnel-shaped, with dark red spots inside.
4. Sulfur rhododendron is mostly epiphytic, often attached to the old trees of spruce, Cangshan fir and evergreen broad-leaved forest. The yellow cuckoo and pure yellow cuckoo are ground-born.
Among the above three kinds of yellow rhododendrons, due to habitat degradation and human destruction, the number of adult plants is less than 1000 and the distribution point is less than 5, so it is included in the "List of Wild Plants under National Key Protection (Second Batch)" (Discussion Draft), which is a national level II endangered key protection, the assessment level is vulnerable (vu), and a nature reserve has been established in Cangshan, Dali point for protection. The Yellow Cuckoo and Pure Yellow Cuckoo are not on the list.
Sulfur rhododendron, pure yellow rhododendron and yellow rhododendron are the rarer yellow flower varieties in the rhododendron, although the yellow rhododendron is poisonous, but the flowers are luxuriant and large, the flower color is elegant and luxurious, beautiful and eye-catching; the pure yellow rhododendron is mellow and has no variegated color; the sulfur rhododendron is beautiful in shape and delicate in flowers. Therefore, they all have high ornamental value and scientific research value, which is worth cherishing and protecting.
2020-03-19 Easy to flower wood