Tsukushi Rhododendron Community of Taradake

Tsukushi Rhododendron Community of Taradake: Kyushu's Prized Rhododendron

The Tsukushi Rhododendron Community of Taradake (多良岳ツクシシャクナゲ群叢) is a stand of Tsukushi rhododendron on Mount Tara in Takaki-cho, Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture, designated a national Natural Monument in 1951.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Tsukushi rhododendron, with dense brown hair under its leaves and large seven-lobed flowers, is native to northern Kyushu and known as the most garden-worthy of Japan's rhododendrons. Nagasaki Prefecture notes that Siebold introduced it to the world with a colour plate in his Flora Japonica as a flower unique to Japan.

Why It Was Designated, and How the Site Changed

The original site designated in 1951 was a stand of evergreen trees known locally as Shakunage-daira, where the whole slope was said to turn into a mountain of flowers at full bloom in June. Soon after the war, however, felling for firewood and charcoal made it unsuitable, and the rhododendrons almost disappeared.

In 1973 the Agency therefore designated about 5 hectares of town-owned forest on a steep slope at about 600 metres, below Konsenji on the southwest side of the summit, and removed Shakunage-daira from the designation. This natural forest of red pine, hemlock, Machilus and chinquapin holds rhododendrons over a wide area and was judged the representative community of the Tara mountains.

Nagasaki Prefecture places the site at the heart of Taradake Prefectural Natural Park, at a spot called Komatsuo Park about 1 kilometre south of Konsenji. Only two Tsukushi rhododendron sites are nationally designated: Inugatake, on the Fukuoka-Oita border, and Taradake.

What to Look For at the Tsukushi Rhododendron Community of Taradake

Nagasaki Prefecture describes rhododendrons growing thickly beneath tall red pine and hemlock, among oaks, maples and ferns on the steep slope. In flower, large pale pink blooms stand out in the woodland.

Some of the vegetation is said to relate to the Edo-period mountain ascetics, echoing Taradake's history as a sacred mountain.

Visiting

The Tsukushi Rhododendron Community of Taradake lies on the mountain, about 1 kilometre south of Konsenji, and can only be reached on foot. There are no fees or set hours, and as a Natural Monument the plants must not be collected.

Tara Town on the Saga side says the trail from the Nakayama campsite reaches the ridge in about 1 hour, and Konsenji is 5 minutes west along the ridge, where there is a prefectural mountain hut. The path includes steep sections and chains, so come equipped for hiking.