Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Rhododendron catawbiense
FAMILY
Ericaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Catawba Rhododendron at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhododendron catawbiense
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Rhododendron catawbiense
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-05-002:
Rhododendron catawbiense FAMILY Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Rhododendron catawbiense
COMMON NAME:
Catawba Rhododendron, Mountain Rosebay, Purple Laurel, Pink Laurel
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_rhca8_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm170224_239
February Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm170224_240
February Haywood County NC
Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm120505_094
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
Blades leathery, widely elliptical, 1/2-6" long; bases rounded, tips blunt, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
COMPARE
leaves of Kalmia and Rhododendron species
)
JK Marlow jkm090607_012
June Transylvania County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Catawba grows 6-12' tall and wide, per Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002).
)
JK Marlow jkm090607_014b
June Transylvania County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
The bell-shaped flowers are purplish-rose, spotted, & in terminal clusters, per Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002).
)
Kevin Adams kcarhododendroncata_w12
June Mitchell County NC
The Roan Highlands
The dominant shrub of the heath balds of the southern Appalachians, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
Kevin Adams kcarhododendroncata_w16
June Mitchell County NC
The Roan Highlands
)
JK Marlow jkm0407v_24
July Mitchell County NC
The Roan Highlands
A thicket-forming shrub or small tree, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm150927_238
September Henderson County NC
Bearwallow Mountain
Terminal bud's scales are all triangular [none leaflike], per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
JK Marlow jkm150927_239
September Henderson County NC
Bearwallow Mountain
Leaves very lightened below, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Rhododendron catawbiense
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhododendron catawbiense
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Rhododendron catawbiense
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-05-002:
Rhododendron catawbiense
FAMILY
Ericaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Rhododendron catawbiense
1223
Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Habitat: Rocky summits, shrub balds, acid ridges and slopes (mostly at high elevations), north-facing bluffs in the Piedmont, and sometimes in mesic situations in the Mountains, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains of GA & NC (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Purplish-pink
(rarely whitish)
Slightly bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed campanulate corolla
10 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p077
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p257
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p088
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p165
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p156
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p215
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p256
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p104
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p138
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p292
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p220
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p175
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p172
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p102
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p27
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p301
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p288
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