Loiseleuria procumbens (alpine azalea, "Minezuo")

Japanese name: ミネズオウ （峰蘇芳）
Scientific name: Loiseleuria procumbens

[Overview]
An evergreen dwarf shrub 3–6 cm tall, growing on rocky or gravelly ground such as windy alpine ridges.
The stems creep along the ground, forming dense carpet-like colonies.
Leaves are simple and opposite, narrowly oblong, 0.6–1 cm long and 0.2–0.3 cm wide, leathery, with the margins rolled toward the underside, and the underside densely covered with white hairs except on the midrib.
Several flowers are borne in umbels to racemes at the branch tips.
The flowers are reddish white and bell-shaped, with the tip split into 5 star-shaped lobes, and at the base there is 1 scale-like bract that remains until the fruiting stage.
The fruit is an ovate capsule.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division.
It suits cool regions.
Use well-drained soil such as Kanuma soil.
It prefers a sunny place, but in warm regions it is best kept cool in an airy spot in partial shade in summer.
For potted plants, from spring to autumn water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and in winter water just enough that it does not dry out too much.
In summer, water in the evening after the temperature has dropped.
For plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply base fertilizer when repotting, and also place slow-release fertilizer on the soil in spring and autumn, making sure no fertilizer remains in summer.
Aphids can occur.

[Notes]
The Japanese name is said to come from its growing in alpine areas and from its leaf shape being likened to Suo (Ichii).

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