Don't buy it anymore! The flower you bought may be a national second-level protected plant! Be careful of breaking the law

Expert of this article: Rong Hai, plant science writer

During every Chinese New Year, all kinds of flowers that set off the beautiful festive atmosphere become one of the most sought-after New Year items.

Among them is a flower called Dry Branch Azalea. When you buy it, it is just a bunch of "dead" branches, but after being inserted into clean water for a few days, it will "come back to life in spring" and bloom with bright red flowers.

However, this flower started out to be popular but eventually came under fire because, although it looks beautiful on the surface, it actually hides the dark secrets of illegal traders and is even suspected of being illegal.

What is Rhododendron truncatum?

The so-called dry branch azalea is actually the branches of the Xing'an azalea.

The Xing'an Rhododendron is native to the mountains and fields of Northeast China. It is a relative of the familiar azalea (rhododendron) and has some similarities with it. It is a semi-evergreen shrub, about one or two meters tall, with oval leaves. The flowers bloom before the leaves, are funnel-shaped, pink or purple-red, and are mainly distributed in Heilongjiang (Daxinganling), Inner Mongolia, Jilin and other places in my country. It often grows under or on the edge of mountain larch forests and birch forests.

In Northeast my country, the winters are extremely cold and long, and the Dahurian rhododendron is the first flower to bloom in the fields when spring comes.

It is spread all over the mountains and fields, with flourishing flowers and bright colors, giving hope of spring to people who have just passed the cold winter. It is regarded as the messenger of spring and a symbol of auspiciousness, happiness, steadfastness and beauty.

The Greater Khingan Rhododendron has another more familiar name - Jindalue. "Jindalue" is the transliteration of Korean, which includes the Greater Khingan Rhododendron and some similar species.

Why does the dry-branch azalea come back to life in spring?

The flowering period of Xing'an Rhododendron is from May to June every year. Because of its extremely cold habitat, its flowers have completed their gestation before the cold winter of the previous year, and enter a dormant state to survive the cold winter until they bloom in the warm spring.

The buds on the Xing'an rhododendron branches picked before the Spring Festival have already developed and are in a dormant state. At this time, as long as the temperature is suitable and there is sufficient water, the flowers can barely keep opening by using the nutrients stored in the body. This is what the merchants call "dead wood coming back to life in spring."

However, unlike the Xing'an rhododendron in its native habitat, although these branches also bloom, they cannot pollinate and bear fruit. Their nutrients will only be depleted and they will become real "dry branches" and be thrown into the trash can.

Is Rhododendron a protected plant?

The Xing'an rhododendron originally grew carefree in the mountains and fields, but who would have thought that some merchants cut off its branches, saved the planting costs, packaged them into economical "dry branch rhododendron", and then far-fetchedly added that "dead wood has come back to life". After a lot of hype, it was actually popular among consumers who were unaware of the situation.

Under the trend of huge profits, wild Rhododendron dasyphylla has been wildly overexploited and over-cut, and its resources have been drastically reduced.

As you may know, plants in cold regions grow very slowly. According to analysis, the branches sold to consumers have been growing for seven or eight years. Therefore, once the wild Rhododendron resources are destroyed, recovery will be very long and difficult.

People soon realized this harm, and some plant protection experts and popular science writers called for the protection of wild Dahurian rhododendron through the media.

It is for this reason and background that in September 2021, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs newly promulgated the "National Key Protected Wild Plants List", which listed the Dahurian Rhododendron as a national second-level key protected plant.

With the prohibition of relevant laws and opposition from mainstream public opinion, the trade of "dried azalea branches" has been gradually curbed, and the Xing'an azalea resources have been effectively protected. However, there are still a few illegal businesses that "take advantage of loopholes."

Some merchants changed their names to dried branch plum, dried branch peach, etc. to evade supervision, but compared with the photos they provided, they are still selling Xing'an rhododendron; some merchants also claimed that it was artificially cultivated, but there is currently no mature Xing'an rhododendron artificially cultivated, and almost all those sold on the market are illegally picked from the wild.

As ordinary consumers, when you need to buy flowers during the spring, you should consciously avoid buying dried azalea branches. On the one hand, there are many choices, such as dried snow willow, azalea, cyclamen, phalaenopsis, cymbidium, cineraria and many other beautiful artificially cultivated flowers to choose from; on the other hand, you must not harm the natural environment, let alone violate relevant national laws, so I hope everyone will stop buying dried azalea branches.

There will be no harm if there is no buying and selling. Please do not let them leave their homes and lie in the trash can. Remember, the wild Xing'an rhododendrons are the most beautiful and colorful only in the mountains of the Northeast.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!

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