By the early 20th century, the British, who had already collected over 300 rhododendron species from around the world, stumbled on a treasure house of rhododendrons on the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau. This find attracted even more plant hunters, so that in the short space of a decade, over 600 new species found their way into European rhododendron nurseries.
二十世紀初，已四處收集了三百多種杜鵑的英國，意外的在雲貴高原發現杜鵑花寶庫，如花蜜般吸引來更多植物採集者，短短十年間，歐洲杜鵑花圃裡增加到六百多個新種。