Rhododendron periclymenoides
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Photo Courtesy Renee Brecht |
Britton & Brown |
| Botanical name: | Rhododendron periclymenoides |
| Common name: | Pinxter flower |
| Group: | dicot |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Growth type: | shrub |
| Duration: | perennial |
| Origin: | native |
| Plant height: | 2'-8' |
| Foliage: | Bright green, alternate leaves, elliptic to oblong or oblong-obovate; abruptly acuminateor acute, rarely obtuse, 3-8 cm. long. Leaves may appear whorled at the branch tips. |
| Flower: | 5 lobed, pink to white, not always fragrant.; corolla is funnelform; in clusters of a dozen or so; glabrous floral bud scales, 1 - 1.5" long. |
| Flowering time: | Flowers early to late May, appearing before or with the leaves. Fruit is a brown dehiscent capsule, early July to late July. |
| Habitat: | woods, thickets, swamp margins |
| Range in New Jersey: | woodlands of Northern and Middle districts, occasional in Cape May peninsula, and very rare in the Pine Barrens. |
| Heritage ranking, if any: | n/a |
| Distribution: |  |
| Misc. | USDA
lists as facultative wetland species; i.e., Equally likely to occur in
wetlands or non-wetlands (estimated probability 34%-66%). Stone (1911) notes "While frequent in the woods of West Jersey, this Azalea is by no means typical of the coastal plain, (Rhododendron viscosum) being the characteristic species of the region. Spreads by stolons. Rhododendron=Rose tree, referring to flower color periclymenoides=resembling a species of honeysuckle. Its previous species name, nudiflorum, means naked flowering; i.e., flowering before the leaves expand.) |