| English Name | Hong Kong Azalea |
|---|---|
| Status in China | Vulnerable (VU) |
Description:
Evergreen shrubs, 1-4 m tall, many-branched; branchlets gray, smooth, densely covered with glandular hairs when young. Leaves crowded on upper part of branches, oblanceolate, 4-5.5 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide, apex acute and mucronate, base attenuate, margin slightly revolute, obscurely glaucous beneath; petiole 0.5-1 cm long. Flowers solitary in axils of leaves; corolla nearly rotate, 2-3 cm long, white or pinkish, the upper lobes tinged with purplish blue blotches inside; stamens 5; ovary ovoid, covered with short stipitate glandular hairs. Capsule ovoid, 6-8 mm long, more or less glandular hairy, coarsely tuberculate; persistent calyx lobes often revolute and shrinking.
Distribution:
Mount Nicholson, Ma On Shan, Lantau Island. Guangdong.
Habitat and Ecology:
In thin forests of ravines, by streams. Flowering: Apr.; fruiting: Oct.
The species was first collected and described from Hong Kong Island between 1847 and 1850. The beautiful white to pinkish flowers make it an attractive ornamental plant. In Hong Kong, most of the localities of its occurrence are in Country Parks under protection. The locality at Ma On Shan has been listed as a SSSI. The species has also been listed under the Forestry Regulations (Cap. 96 sub. leg.). Ex-situ conservation has also been conducted. Some living specimens are planted in the Shing Mun Arboretum.
References:
譚沛祥，1987：廣東植物誌1：315，圖339。廣東科技出版社，廣州。
