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"Murasaki-yashio-tsutsuji" (Rhododendron albrechtii) belongs to Ericaceae (the Azalea family). It is a small deciduous tree that is distributed northward from Shiga prefecture to the Japan Sea side of Chubu and Tohoku district, and Hokkaido in Japan. This tree grows in forest edges of montane to sub-alpine zone and by snow patches, and can reach 1-2 m in height. The leaves are oblanceolate to obovate-elliptic and alternate at the terminal branches in whorls. The dark magenta flowers bloom from May to July. The flower has 10 stamens, of which the upper 5 are short, with white short hairs on the filaments, and the lower 5 are long, extending outside the corolla and hairless. The Japanese name "yashio" means "eight dyes", meaning that the dye is soaked in dye many times to dye it darkly.
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