Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Rhododendron minus
FAMILY
Ericaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Gorge Rhododendron at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhododendron minus
FAMILY
Ericaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America
Rhododendron minus var. minus
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-05-003:
Rhododendron minus
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
Rhododendron minus
COMMON NAME:
Gorge Rhododendron, Punctatum, Piedmont Rhododendron
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm0404c_18
April Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm0405w_06
May Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
People who eat honey made by bees that forage on Rhododendron may become ill, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont.
)
JK Marlow jkm200613_5888
June Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm200613_5891
June Jackson County NC
Foothills Trail
)
Ron Lance rwl_rhodo_minus
June Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
Ron Lance rwl1227_a2
June
Flowers pink to white, often spotted with green, in terminal clusters, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont.
)
JK Marlow jkm061103_036
November Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
Somebody tell this plant that it's November.
)
JK Marlow s081221_a
December Oconee County SC
Leathery elliptical leaves sharply pointed at apex, wedge-shaped at base, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont.
COMPARE
leaves of Kalmia and Rhododendron species
)
JK Marlow s081221_b
December Oconee County SC
Lower surface of leaves punctate with brown scales, per Weakley's Flora.
COMPARE
leaf undersides of Kalmia and Rhododendron species
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Rhododendron minus
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhododendron minus
FAMILY
Ericaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America
Rhododendron minus var. minus
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-05-003:
Rhododendron minus
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
Rhododendron minus
1227
Shrub
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common in Mountains (rare in Piedmont & Coastal Plain)
Look for it on rocky slopes, in escarpment gorges, rocky areas in the Piedmont, sandhill bluffs in the Coastal Plain, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Variable
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Pink/White
Bisexual
Slightly bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed campanulate to funnelform corolla
10 stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South p092
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p106
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p142
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p104
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide p135
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p175
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p102
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p27
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p303
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p288