Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi

Rhododendron section Tsutsusi (spelled Tsutsuji in some older texts) is a section of the genus Rhododendron, commonly referred to as the evergreen azaleas. Formerly a subgenus, in 2005 it was reduced to a section and subsumed by subgenus Azaleastrum. Containing 80 to 117 species, it includes both deciduous and evergreen types and is distributed in Japan, China and northeastern Asia. They are of high cultural importance to the Japanese. Among the species in this genus lie the largest flowering azaleas.