Rhododendron indicum or Satsuki or same?

[Harunobu]

I thought Southern Azaleas were mostly R.simsii as they are Belgian Greenhouse-forcing plants that turned out to be nice all-year garden plants in warmer araes. Except for those 'Hirado' azaleas and their sports like 'George Tabor' which are either pure Rhododendron phoeniceum or that fused with R.scabrum. I don't even think those plants are US-based crosses. They came from either Belgium, Japan, or China/Taiwan directly.
They probably did some breeding in the Hirado area, but I forgot if it is known or not what plants they used, or if it is not known.

I think 'G.G. Gerbing' looks like a form of Rhododendron mucronatum. But http://hirsutum.info so I cannot check. And I did not see the plant in person.

I do not know which cultivar you are thinking of when you say it is 'pure R.indicum'.

Neither Southern Indica's, Belgian Indica's or Hirado azalea appear in Satsuki dictionaries. So I do not know under what definition of 'satsuki' they would fall. They also have different bloom times.

 

[Harunobu]

I found a place where they say it is a white sport of 'George Lindley Taber', which is a sport of 'Omurasaki', which is a Hirado.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

The "Southern indicum" I believe are separate from the "Belgium hybrids". Separate breeding. Check Nuccio's catalog, they keep them separate.

Southern indicum are for landscaping. The Belgium hybrids do have R simsii, and are bred for ease of forcing, and more compact plants appropriate for the potted plant trade. Different hybrids, for different purposes.

Neither group is of Japanese breeding, though some source stock may have come from Japan. It is not surprising that they are not in the Japanese catalogs.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

The "Southern indicum" I believe are separate from the "Belgium hybrids". Separate breeding. Check Nuccio's catalog, they keep them separate.

Southern indicum are for landscaping. The Belgium hybrids do have R simsii, and are bred for ease of forcing, and more compact plants appropriate for the potted plant trade. Different hybrids, for different purposes.

Neither group is of Japanese breeding, though some source stock may have come from Japan. It is not surprising that they are not in the Japanese catalogs.

I found this from extension.uga.edu, university of Georgia website. ...Southern Indian Hybrids: Southern Indian (also called Southern Indica) hybrids were developed from plants at Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, S.C., and therefore...

 

[Harunobu]

They aren't called 'indicum', they are called 'indica', which means the opposite. If I open Nuccio's website, as you say.
http://www.nucciosnurseries.com/index.php/catalog-azaleas/southern-india-azaleas

The first four I see are 'Duc de Rohan', which is a 100% Belgian greenhouse forcing azalea, probably 100% R.simsii.
'Fielder's White' I do not know. Then we have the two mentioned earlier, the forms of 'Omurasaki', which comes from Hirado, Japan.

Then they have 'Phoenicea', which must be a form of Rhododendron phoeniceum. Then two more sports of 'Duc de Rohan'.

Sadly, hirsutum isn't working so I cannot retrieve the name from the Belgian that registeed 'Duc de Rohan', or find out more about what Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, S.C., registered.

 

[JudyB]

Just curious where Kurume falls into these categories?

 

[shinmai]

Steve Henning, the legendary 'rhodyman' and expert on all things rhododendron and azalea, gives an excellent exposition on just that question in a lengthy post at https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3747943/whats-the-difference-between-indica-and-kurume-azaleas.

 

[JudyB]

Steve Henning, the legendary 'rhodyman' and expert on all things rhododendron and azalea, gives an excellent exposition on just that question in a lengthy post at https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3747943/whats-the-difference-between-indica-and-kurume-azaleas.

thanks for this!

 

[substratum]

It's a shame that those azalea hybrids grown for the floral trade are not cold hardy or particularly vigorous, because some of them are absolutely beautiful. Makes me consider getting some anyway, and acquiring a small greenhouse to protect them through the winter.

 

[Harunobu]

Yeah, basically Kurume are R.kiusianum crossed with R.kaempferi. There are several mountains in Kyushu were their habitats overlap (at certain elevations), and here natural hybrids already occur. Then it became a human breeding project. I don't know how long back this tradition goes back, but in recent memory Dr. Kunishige has been in charge of breeding programme at the Kurume station.

In the west we call them 'Kurume azalea' because Wilson (& Domoto Brothers) brought them to the west with the help of Dr.Kunishige from Kurume. Japanese don't refer to these azalea with that name.

 

[Harunobu]

(Wait, I think Dr.Kunishige talked with Dr.Creech and that was decades after Wilson and Domoto Bros.)

 

[M. Frary]

I thought the choices were indica or sativa or a hybrid of both.
How's the high? Uplifting or a more mellow buzz?

 

[shinmai]

I thought the choices were indica or sativa or a hybrid of both.
How's the high? Uplifting or a more mellow buzz?

Nicely played. Well done.

 

[Harunobu]

Never heard of sativa.

 

[substratum]

Never heard of sativa.

It’s a variety of cannabis. Both Cannabis Sativa and Cannabis Indica are illegal under Federal Law.

 

[Harunobu]

When I was in Massachusetts, there was pot smell everywhere. Never encountered something like that in the Netherlands. Federal law? You mean the Federation?

Btw, genus names are lower case.