OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Rhododendron maximum   FAMILY Ericaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhododendron maximum   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Rhododendron maximum

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-05-001:

Rhododendron maximum   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Rhododendron maximum

 

COMMON NAME:
Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_825

        

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_rhma4_001_lvd

        

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_rhma4_007_lvd

        

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    s050319_b

March    Greenville County    SC

Jones Gap State Park

Leaf blades leathery, oblong, 4-12" long, bases tapered, tips pointed, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE leaves of Kalmia and Rhododendron species

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm0104a_31

April    Rutherford County    NC

Chimney Rock Park

Flower buds terminal, 1-1.5" long, with many overlapping sticky scales, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm210423_9686

April    Jackson County    NC

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm210423_9749

April    Transylvania County    NC

Blue Ridge Parkway

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm0505h_20

May    Swain County    NC

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm070526_010

May    Polk County    NC

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm220605_8265

June    Greenville County    SC

Chandler Heritage Preserve

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm0107g_01

July    Transylvania County    NC

Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District

Corolla often has a greenish throat with yellow or orange spots, per Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989).

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm060712_009

July    Raleigh County    WV

Grandview State Park

White to pale pink flowers with greenish to yellow-orange spotted throats, per Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002).

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm190719_0001

July    Transylvania County    NC

Pisgah National Forest: Pisgah Ranger District

Fruit just beginning to develop. Calyx lobes slightly unequal, 4-5mm, obtuse, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_r_maximum_4

July    Union County    GA

Lake Winfield Scott

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_r_maximum_s

July        

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

Ben Geer Keys    bgk1226_a

July?        

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm0509b_34

September    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

Fruit an elongate, sticky capsule, crowned with the remnants of the style, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm150927_243

September    Henderson County    NC

Bearwallow Mountain

Terminal bud's lowermost bud scales are elongate, leaflike, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm0311b_27

November    Sevier County    TN

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

A thicket-forming shrub or small tree, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm0311f_13

November    Rutherford County    NC

Chimney Rock Park

The lower the temperature, the greater the angle of the drooping leaves, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm0311f_18

November    Rutherford County    NC

Chimney Rock Park

Largely Appalachian: ME, NY & OH south to GA & AL, primarily in the mountains, per Weakley's Flora.

image of Rhododendron maximum, Rosebay Rhododendron, Great Laurel, White Rosebay, Great Rhododendron

JK Marlow    jkm201107_8118

November    Greenville County    SC

Ashmore Heritage Preserve

See the cool dark gray-green band of color? Rhodos line the creek up ahead.

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Rhododendron maximum   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Rhododendron maximum   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Rhododendron maximum

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-05-001:
Rhododendron maximum   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Rhododendron maximum

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1226

Shrub; Tree
Perennial

Habitat: Moist slopes, wet flats, bogs, swamps, north-facing bluffs in the Piedmont, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Mountains, uncommon in Piedmont

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Summer
Pink/Whitish
Slightly bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed campanulate corolla
10 included stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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