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The root diameters as well as colonization and diversity of the root-associating fungi of Vaccinium oldhamii Miq. were investigated in order to obtain information on their mycorrhizal properties. The distal regions of roots had typical hair roots with diameters of less than 100 μm. Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (ErMF) and dark septate endophytes (DSE) were frequently observed in the roots. Ascomycetes, particularly helotialean fungi, appeared to be dominant among the endophytic fungi of V. oldhamii roots. Furthermore, Rhizoscyphus ericae (Read) Zhuang & Korf and Oidiodendron maius Barron known as ErMF were detected more frequently than other fungal species.

Fourteen anthocyanins were detected in the flowers of R. simsii distributed in Vietnam and Japan. The anthocyanin constituents of R. simsii flowers seem to be more complex in the Japanese than Vietnamese population. The percentage of each flower anthocyanin was very low except for two major anthocyanins found in all Vietnamese and Japanese accessions. It was not possible to classify the Vietnamese and Japanese populations by flower anthocyanin constituents. The two major anthocyanins found in all accessions of R. simsii flowers in Vietnam and Japan were isolated and purified by column and high-performance liquid chromatography. Their structures were elucidated by 1 H-NMR spectroscopic analyses and either acid or alkaline hydrolysis, and they were identified as cyanidin 3-galactoside and cyanidin 3-arabinoside. These two anthocyanins seem to be common to red-flowered evergreen azaleas, such as R. indicum, R. kaempferi, R. oldhamii, and R. scabrum.

Evergreen azalea is one of the most important ornamental shrubs and pot plants in temperate zones worldwide. In Japan, hundreds of azalea cultivars have been bred based on the genetic diversity of wild species and various accumulated mutants since the middle of the 17th century. Japanese cultivar groups such as Edo-kirishima, Kurume-tsutsuji, Ryūkyū-tsutsuji, Hirado-tsutsuji, and Satsuki have been developed by selection and crossing, and many cultivars have been exported to Western countries and utilized as breeding materials for pot and garden azalea. Rhododendron ripense Makino, which grows on riverside rocks and is endemic to Japan, is one of the best ornamental species because of its high adaptability to environmental conditions. We have focused on the genetic contribution of this wild species to evergreen azalea cultivars, and developed a PCR-RFLP identification marker of R. ripense cpDNA based on a species-specific sequence of the trn L-F region. The R. ripense cpDNA specific marker has been in Japanese large-flowered groups, all Ryūkyū and Ōkirishima cultivars, and half of all Hirado cultivars have the R. ripense cpDNA type. Most Japanese small flower cultivars, such as Edo-kirishima, Kurume and Satsuki have non-R. ripense type cpDNA. Italian large-flowered cultivars also tend to be the R. ripense cpDNA type. Furthermore, all pot azalea cultivars of the Indian and Simsii groups possess R. ripense type cpDNA. These results clarified the cytoplasmic contribution of R. ripense not only to Japanese large flower cultivars, but also to Western azalea cultivars. Although R. simsii has been considered to be the main ancestral species of pot azalea, R. ripense should be recognized as the cytoplasmic parent of these cultivars. The ornamental value and adaptive environmental trait originating from R. ripense should be reviewed to elucidate the development history of evergreen azalea cultivars.

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