Rhododendron ponticum

100 seeds Rhododendron ponticum.

Rhododendron ponticum, called common rhododendron or pontic rhododendron, is a species of Rhododendron native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. 

R. ponticum is a dense, suckering shrub or small tree growing to 5 m (16 ft) tall, rarely 8 m (26 ft). The leaves are evergreen, 6 to 18 cm (2.4 to 7.1 in) long and 2 to 5 cm (0.79 to 1.97 in) wide. The flowers are 3.5 to 5 cm (1.4 to 2.0 in) in diameter, violet-purple, often with small greenish-yellow spots or streaks. The fruit is a dry capsule 1.5 to 2.5 cm (0.59 to 0.98 in) long, containing numerous small seeds.

In Europe, its range includes Spain, northern Portugal, Great Britain, Ireland and southeast Bulgaria, which is the last surviving European Tertiary habitat.

In Asia it occurs in Turkey, Lebanon, Georgia, the Krasnodar area of southern Russia, the Himalayas, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan, and parts of Jammu and Kashmir into the northern Republic of India (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand). It is the state flower of Jammu and Kashmir.

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