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Rhododendron lapponicum
Also called Lapland Rhododendron, Lapland Azalea
Lapland rosebay is a small, evergreen, circumpolar alpine and arctic subshrub with violet-purple funnel flowers. It grows from prostrate mats to shrubs up to about 1 m, and spreads by rhizomes. It needs cool conditions and open, well-drained, acidic soil, so it is best suited to cold-climate or alpine gardens rather than typical lowland gardens.
Rhododendron lapponicum is a dwarf species of Rhododendron native to arctic and subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is commonly known as Lapland rosebay, rhododendron de Laponie in French-speaking Canada, qijjuttaaqpait tipilitt (ᕿᔾᔪᑦᑖᖅᐸᐃᑦ ᑎᐱᓕᑦᑦ) in Inuktitut-speaking regions of Canada, and gāoshān dùjuān (高山杜鹃) in China. The specific epithet lapponicum was given to the species by Carl Linnaeus, naming it after the Swedish region of Lapland.
R. lapponicum has a wide-ranging circumpolar distribution, occurring in arctic and alpine tundra environments across northern North America, northern Europe, and northeastern Asia. It grows at elevations ranging from sea level to 1,900 m (6,200 ft). It may be found in rocky barrens, heaths, bogs, beach ridges, or sandy stream banks. In eastern alpine ecosystems, it is commonly associated with cushion-tussock and heath-shrub-rush plant communities.
Rhododendron aberconwayi · Sagan Dalya · Rhododendron adenogynum · Rhododendron adenosum · Rhododendron aganniphum · Cascade azalea · Rhododendron albrechtii · Rhododendron album · Rhododendron alutaceum · Rhododendron annae · Rhododendron anthopogon · Rhododendron araiophyllum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Rhododendron lapponicum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
