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Azalea (Tsutsuji)

A shrub with red or white flowers from spring to summer

Azaleas are deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small trees of the genus Rhododendron in the family Ericaceae. The leaves are alternate, and the flowers are bell-shaped or tubular sympetalae (flowers with fused petals). Taxonomically, deciduous or semi-evergreen Rhododendron species are azaleas, and evergreen ones are rhododendrons. In Japan, however, shakunage (rhododendron) is used only for rhododendrons closely related to hon-shakunage (Rhododendron  japonoheptamerum var. hondoense). Even though it is an evergreen, hikage tsutsuji (Rhododendron keiskei) is not considered a rhododendron. However, the evergreen Rhododendron species that entered Europe from China and elsewhere were cultivated under the name "rhododendron," and the deciduous Rhododendron species of East Asia and the United States were cultivated and entered Japan under the name "azalea," which causes confusion. Yet phyletically, there is no essential difference between deciduous and evergreen species, so the distinction between azaleas and rhododendrons is just for convenience.

       There are 850 known Rhododendron species in the world, and these are classified into several subgenera. Of these, the plants classified into the subgenus Tsutsusi are usually called tsutsuji (azaleas), and include kometsutsuji (Rhododendron tschonoskii), yamatsutsuji (Rhododendron kaempferi), and miyama kirishima (Rhododendron kiusianum).

       Because azalea flowers are considered cute, many cultivars have been produced all over the world since traditional times. In Japan as well, varieties have been bred from endemic wild species. Cultivation of azaleas became popular during the Edo period (1603-1867), and many varieties were produced in various places, bearing the name of the land. These include the Kerama azalea, Hirado azalea, Sata azalea, mountain azalea, Kirishima azalea, and Kurume azalea.

       Azaleas bloom in early summer, so they were considered a sign of the start of the farming season. A custom called Tentobana involved attaching azaleas and wisteria to the tip of a rod and planting it at the head of a garden. This yorishiro was an invitation for a Shinto god to descend from the mountain.

       Azaleas are planted in a number of parks. Especially famous are the azaleas at Tsutsujigaoka Park in Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture. The Japanese azalea colony of Tsutsujigahara in Yamanashi Prefecture, the ontsutsuji (Rhododendron weyrichii) colony of Funakubo in Tokushima Prefecture, and the miyama kirishima colony in Ikenohara, Nagasaki Prefecture, have been designated as natural monuments.

       Satsuki (Rhododendron indicum) is also an azalea. While the flowers and tree are shaped like other azaleas, its blooms remarkably late. In the Edo period, its cultivation and development of varieties lagged behind those of other azaleas, but later, after a temporary decline, interest in the satsuki azalea revived from around the Taisho era (1912-1926). It was introduced to Europe in premodern times and has become an important basic species of azalea cultivars.

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  • 矀銬県通林垂。囜の名勝「躑躅ケ岡」を有する総合公園。1627幎寛氞4に通林城䞻把原束平忠次がツツゞの叀朚矀を移怍しお以来、倧名らにより保護育成されおきた。江戞キリシマの品皮がたずたっお残されおおり、たたダマツツゞ、オオダマツツゞの䞭から特に花色の倉異したものを通林垂オリゞナル品皮ずしお登録した。

  • 宮厎県北諞県郡䞉股町。6䞇本のクルメツツゞが咲く公園。

  • The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.

  • As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.

  • The Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art stands as the nexus of art advancement in Japan, charged with fostering the creation and development of art and culture in Japan, and the cultivation of aesthetic awareness among the Japanese people. Through its six art museums — The National Museums of Modern Art, Tokyo and Kyoto, National Film Archive of Japan, the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, and the National Art Center, Tokyo — the National Museum of Art carries out diverse and distinctive activities that fully utilize the unique character of each member museum.

  • The University of Tokyo is promoting the construction of digital archives. The University of Tokyo Archives, The University Museum, Information Technology Center, and University of Tokyo Library System collaborate on this project.

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  • 䞉重の歎史・文化デゞタルアヌカむブでは、県内の文化斜蚭等の所蔵品・図曞・貎重資料・行政資料・統蚈資料、県内にある指定・登録文化財、県内各地に点圚するたちかど博物通や句碑、道暙等の文化資産を怜玢するこずができたす。

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External Links

  • 「NHKみんなの趣味の園芞」NHK出版公匏サむト。怍物や花の基本情報、育お方などを「趣味の園芞」講垫陣が執筆。園芞盞談Q&Aや特集コヌナヌがある。

  • 囜立科孊博物通附属の自然教育園で開園以来蚘録されたこずのある生物の皮名皮、動怍物や颚景の写真玄点を怜玢するこずができる。

  • 囜立科孊博物通の筑波実隓怍物園内にある怍物を怜玢するこずができる。2020幎珟圚の登録皮数1711皮。研究者ノヌトなど専門的な解説もある。

  • 春倏秋冬、花にた぀わる人ず歎史ず文孊の物語。参考資料集、怍物名玢匕、写真玢匕を付す。

References

  1. 「ツツゞ」の項
  2. 「ツツゞ」の項
  3. 日立デゞタル平凡瀟,平凡瀟
  4. 「躑躅」のé