Shichongdajie Mountain blazing with azaleas
2023-04-25
The photos taken On April 22 show the majestic Shichongdajie Mountain carpeted with blooming azaleas, whose faint fragrance fill the air and refresh the spirit.
Shizhongdajie Mountain, located at the junction of Longhui County, Xinhua County and Xinshao County, is famous for the azalea, a deciduous shrub that generally blooms in spring with clusters of two to six flowers of funnel-shaped corollas in various colors such as red, light red, apricot, pale blue and white.
The azalea grows in sparse shrub or pine forests at altitudes of 500 meters to 1,200 meters, and is a typical indicator plant for acidic soils in Central and Southern China, as well as Southwestern China.
Azaleas have medicinal properties, and the entire plant can be used for medicinal purposes, with effects like promoting blood circulation, tonifying deficiencies, and treating internal injuries, coughs, kidney deficiency, hearing loss, irregular menstruation, rheumatism and other ailments.
They are also well-known ornamental plants cultivated in parks around the world due to their bright colors. Jiangxi Province, Anhui Province and Guizhou Province have designated azaleas as their provincial flower, and there are as many as seven or eight cities that have designated them as their city flower. In May 1985, the azalea ranked sixth among the top ten famous flowers in China.
The azaleas in Shizhongdajie Mountain are all wild, with their varieties in the area from Yizijie Mountain to Banshan Mountain relatively monotonous, with red being the dominant color. In Hongfeng Mountain and Shizi Mountain, there are more varieties of azaleas in such colors as red and pink.
