''Rhododendron simsii'' (杜鵑) is a

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

native to

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

, where it grows at altitudes of .

Description

Rhododendron indicum - Kunming Botanical Garden - DSC02873

It is a twiggy

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

or semi-evergreen shrub growing to in height, with leaves that are ovate, elliptic-ovate or obovate to

oblanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets) ...

, 1.5–5 by 0.5–3 cm in size. The flowers range from white to dark red. Some varieties of ''Rhododendron simsii'' are poisonous due to the presence of

grayanotoxin Grayanotoxins are a group of closely related neurotoxins named after ''Leucothoe grayana'', a plant native to Japan and named for 19th-century American botanist Asa Gray. Grayanotoxin I (grayanotoxane-3,5,6,10,14,16-hexol 14-acetate) is also known ...

Distribution

The species is common in Hong Kong. It is also distributed in Areas south of

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

in China as well as in Vietnam and Thailand. The specific name ''simsii'' commemorates John Sims (1749-1831) who was the first editor of "Magazine Botanique". Dictionnaire étymologique de botanique
/ref> This slightly tender species is quite rare in the west, though well known in Chinese gardens.

References

* "''Rhododendron simsii''", Planchon, ''Fl. Serres Jard. Eur.'' 9: 78. 1853–1854. 1853. simsii Flora of Hong Kong Flora of China Flora of Thailand Flora of Vietnam {{Ericaceae-stub