Editing Rhododendron (section)

== Distribution and habitat ==
[[File:Rhododendron fallacinum (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Rhododendron fallacinum]]'' photographed ''in situ'' on [[Mount Kinabalu]], [[Borneo]]]]
Species of the genus ''Rhododendron'' are widely distributed between latitudes 80°N and 20°S and are [[native plant|native]] to areas from North America to [[Europe]], [[Russia]], and [[Asia]], and from [[Greenland]] to [[Queensland]], [[Australia]] and the [[Solomon Islands]].{{sfnp|Brown |Craven |Udovicic |Ladiges |2006 |ref=Brown2006}} The [[center of diversity|centres of diversity]] are in the [[Himalayas]] and [[Maritime Southeast Asia]],<ref name=LianMing>{{cite journal |author1=GAO Lian-Ming |author2=LI De-Zhu |author3=ZHANG Chang-Qin |author4=YANG Jun-Bo | year = 2002 | title = Infrageneric and Sectional Relationships in the Genus Rhododendron (Ericaceae) Inferred from ITS Sequence Data | url = http://www.jipb.net/pubsoft/content/2/2316/X010407(PS2).pdf | journal = Am Botanica Sinica | volume = 44 | issue = 11| pages = 1351–1356}}</ref> with the greatest species diversity in the Sino-Himalayan region, Southwest China and northern [[Burma]], from India – [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[Sikkim]] and [[Nagaland]] to [[Nepal]], northwestern [[Yunnan]] and western [[Sichuan]] and southeastern [[Tibet]]. Other significant areas of diversity are in the mountains of [[Korea]], [[Japan]] and [[Taiwan]]. More than 90% of ''Rhododendron'' ''sensu'' Chamberlain belong to the Asian subgenera ''Rhododendron'', ''Hymenanthes'' and section ''Tsutsusi''. Of the first two of these, the species are predominantly found in the area of the Himalayas and Southwest China (Sino-Himalayan Region).{{sfnp|Goetsch |Eckert |Hall|2005 |ref=Goetsch}}

The 300 [[Tropical climate|tropical]] species within the ''[[Rhododendron sect. Vireya|Vireya]]'' section of subgenus ''Rhododendron'' occupy the [[Maritime Southeast Asia]] from their presumed Southeast Asian origin to Northern Australia, with 55 known species in [[Borneo]] and 164 in [[New Guinea]]. The species in New Guinea are native to [[Subalpine zone|subalpine]] moist [[grasslands]] at around 3,000 metres above sea level in the Central Highlands.{{sfnp|Argent|2006 |ref=Argent2006}} Subgenera ''Rhododendron'' and ''Hymenanthes'', together with section ''Pentanthera'' of subgenus ''Pentanthera'' are also represented to a lesser degree in the Mountainous areas of North America and [[Western Eurasia]]. Subgenus ''Tsutsusi'' is found in the maritime regions of [[East Asia]] (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, [[East China]]), but not in North America or Eurasia.{{sfnp|Goetsch |Eckert |Hall|2005 |ref=Goetsch}}{{sfnp|JIN |DING |ZHANG |HONG |2010 |ref=JDZH}}

In the United States, native ''Rhododendron'' mostly occur in lowland and montane forests in the [[Pacific Northwest]], [[California]], the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]], and the [[Appalachian Mountains]].<ref>Irving, E., & Hebda, R. (1993). Concerning the Origin and Distribution of Rhododendrons. ''Journal American Rhododendron Society'', ''47''(3).</ref>