Rhododendron latoucheae var. latoucheae ("Seishika")

Japanese name: セイシカ （聖紫花）
Scientific name: Rhododendron latoucheae var. latoucheae

[Overview]
An evergreen small tree 2–5 m tall, found in forests along rivers.
It is said that some individuals can even reach 10 m in height.
Young branches are hairless, and the young branches and young leaves are often tinged with red.
The leaves are simple and alternate, clustered in a whorl-like arrangement at the branch tips; they are oblong, 5–9 cm long and 1.5–3.5 cm wide, with a short pointed tip bearing a linear projection, hairless on both surfaces, and with distinct veins.
The petiole is 0.8–1.8 cm long.
The flowers are 4–5 cm across and open one at a time from the 3–4 flower buds that form around the leaf bud at the branch tip.
The corolla is pink with crimson-purple spots on the inner surface of the upper side, deeply 5-lobed, and funnel-shaped.
There are 10 stamens.
The fruit is a slender cylindrical capsule 2–4 cm long and hairless.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It can overwinter outdoors in areas without frost.
It prefers fertilized, sunny, well-drained, acidic soil.
Avoid dry sites, or prevent the base of the plant from drying out by mulching or similar means.
For potted plants, from autumn to spring water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and in midsummer water twice, in the cooler morning and evening, so that the leaves are also wetted.
For plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient except in summer; in summer, water in the cooler morning or evening so that the leaves are also wetted, and in winter, if dry weather continues, water in the morning on a warm day.
Apply fertilizer three times in total, in winter, after flowering, and in autumn, using organic fertilizer or slow-release chemical fertilizer with equal parts of the three components, spread around the plant.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
The Japanese name derives from the beauty of the flowers.

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