A
colloquial name virtually unique to Alabama
is wild honeysuckle where it refers to native deciduous azaleas due to the superficial similarity of
the long tubular flowers to those of Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica Thunb.Apparently I seemed to have instinctively
known not to try sucking nectar from these usually pink wild honeysuckles growing
as a shrub and blooming in the early spring before the leaves put out, because
they are actually poisonous and may even kill a goat like the one that ate some
azaleas just after my mom had planted them.There are several native azaleas so to keep this simple they are grouped
by leaf retention, color, and/or bloom time relative to new leaves while any
distinctive characteristics or trivia is mentioned.Evergreen species are usually referred to as rhododendrons while deciduous species are called azaleas, although this rule does not always apply
especially for exotic species, but it once had them speparated in to the genera of Rhododendron and Azalea that has been combined into just Rhododendron. Pictured here is Catawba rhododendron, Rhododendron catawbiense Michx., which is the formost of the three evergreen species found in Alabama not only because it is the most abundant but also because it is
often used as a parent for hybrid rhododendrons. The largest is rosebay rhododendron, R. maximum L., and it is the
state flower of West Virginia, and coincidetally piedmont rhododendron, R. minusMichx., is the smallest of these three evergreen rhododendrons all of which can be seen at DeSoto State Park although
there are only one or two specimens each of the later two species.Catawba rhododendron can also be seen in
Little River Canyon Preserve, which is adjacent to DeSotoState Park, and Buck’s PocketState Park
and probably GuntersvilleState Park since it is nearly adjacent, besides at least part of
these parks are in the only four counties in Alabama where native rhododendrons are found. Another evergreen species that had been classified as a subspecies of piedmont rhododendronfound is only Chapman’s rhododendron, R. chapmanii A. Gray, and it is a federally listed endangered species that is only found in the Florida
panhandle.Carolina rhododendron, R. carolinanum Rehder, is another evergreen species not native to in Alabama since it is found at higher elevations such as in
the Great Smoky Mountains than the similar Piedmont
rhododendron.All of the evergreen
rhododendrons have pink flowers but they can range from white to purple in some
cases.Native azaleas that respectively have yellow, orange and/or red flowers and in order of bloom are Florida azalea, R. austrinum (Small) Rehder, blooming just before or as the leaves open, piedmont azalea, R. flammeum(Michx.) Sarg., blooming as the leaves
expand and plumleaf azalea, R. prunifolia(Small) Millais,
that blooms well into summer. The other orange azaleas are flame azalea, R. calendulaceum(Michx.) Torr., Cumberland azalea,
R. cumberlandense E.L. Braun, which may be red
and is also known as Oconee azalea, and a hybrid, R.×bakeri(Lemmon & McKay) Hume,
that is between Piedmont azalea and mountain azalea, R. canscens (Michx.) Sweet, which has pink flowers and is also called Piedmont
azalea.Florida azalea sometimes does not bloom if
planted in this area due to late freezes that damage the flower buds that broke
dormancy early due to some warm late winter days.Plumleaf azalea, which is usually the reddest, is found near where the Chattahoochee River forms part of the border between Alabama and Georgia, it is
listed as threatened in Georgia, but Alabama has little if any protection for
rare plants.Beside Florida azalea,
which is also known as yellow azalea, I have seen only one of the others blooming in the wild as of 2009; since since it was blooming in late May at Coon Gulf on Alabama Forever
Wild property it is
probably flame azalea. Flame azalea and Cumberland azalea best seen in or near the Great
Smoky Mountains in June.Pink flowered azaleas
include the previously mentioned piedmont azalea, R. canescens(Michx.) Sweet, pinxterbloom azalea, R. perclymenoides (Michx.) Shinners, early azalea, R. prinophyllum(Small) Millais, which is similar but smells like cloves, pinkshell
azalea, R. vaseyi A. Gray, is a rare azalea
found only in North Carolina,
but some of these can be so pale that
they appear to be white.The white
azaleas that bloom first are dwarf azalea or coastal azalea, R.atlanticum (Ashe) Rehder, which is found on the
east coast, andAlabama azalea, R.
alabamense Rehder, which has a yellow spot on one petal and a range in centered on
Alabama, while those that bloom later are sweet azalea, R. arborescens (Pursh) Torr., also known as smooth azalea has a fragrance of
cinnamon, and swamp azalea, R. viscosum (L.) Torr.,
has the sweetest fragrance of all the azaleas considering that it can usually
be detected well before being seen such as at DeSoto State Park.Swamp azalea now includes as synonymous
another species known as sweet azalea, R. serrulatum (Small) Millais, which seems to have more
of a pink tint.Another very rare native
azalea, Santee azalea or May-white azalea, R.
eastmaniiK.A. Kron & M. Creel, was described in 1999 from a total population of only a few
hundred in South Carolina,
but cultivated selections including white and pale pink or yellow flowers are
not yet available. The Red Hills azalea, R. colemanii R. Miller, which is indigenous to that region where it is found predominantly in Alabama into adjacent Georgia and possibly Mississippi. It is reported to have colors ranging from white to pink and yellow to orange. I saw where it is being propagated at the Huntsville Botanical Garden, and they mentioned another newly discovered species that has yet to be named. Hopefully this new species will be named for William Bartram considering that he was the first to collect both R. calendulaceum(Michx.) Torr. and R. minus Michx., which he respectively called Azalea flammula and R. ferrugineum, even though he is not credited with the discovery and in fact he may have even told Andre Michaux where to find these and other new species.
Many of these species and several cultivars most notable those that respectively have orange flowers or evergreen leaves, can be seen locally at an extensive planting along the Vernon Bush walking trail in Jackson County Park that also contains many other native wildflowers as well as some exotics.
Just in
case you are even thinking of attempting to transplant a native azalea or
rhododendron from the wild forget about it now.They have such an extensive mesh of fibrous roots, that they will
likely be so damaged from the process that survival is virtually impossible.I was once asked how to get a transplanted
(which considering the dozens of failed attempts by a self proclaimed environmentalist this probably could/should be read as stolen) Catawba
rhododendrons to survive.The response to my query into
the relative size of the plant to the roots was enough to give an answer of never
because for the size of plant indicated the roots would not fit in the bed of a
pick-up truck much less in a bucket, which was all that were being preserved, much like their same amount of dried ‘bulbs’ from a flower (and orchid) that they had
never seen anywhere else. Consequently, despite my warning, I expect the
similarly acquired invasive exotic species are deservedly working out quite well.Between that kind of love for flowers, and
the historical uses for the annual decoration of cemeteries I’m surprised there
are any rhododendrons left in this area.I even know of instances
where both planted and artificial flowers were stolen from cemeteries and I suspect
another of the later of being repeatedly reassemble and entered in the county fair considering
how the look I got was as dirty as the cigarette smoke scented artificial flowers, not to mention their complaints
about failing to win in every lot especially those with no other entries. Not surprisingly those "appalling" (as described by a Katrina transplant) categories have been discontinued.
On the
other hand if you having problems with container grown azaleas and
rhododendrons be sure that they were not planted to deeply, definitely not limed, properly mulched, and neither saturated nor allowed to dry out completely.I have seen plants buried so deeply that roots sprouted about six
inches into the canopy before the azalea died.An
indication of to much lime in the soil is a very old plant that has not grown
much then it dies and when pulled up it appears to have become rootbound in its original container because the roots could neither survive nor grow in the surrounding soil since it was not acidic
enough.Mulch is very important because azaleas are relatively shallow rooted and it helps keep the soil
moisture and temperature stable since azaleas prefer to neither become
dry nor have wet feet. Because of the bad freeze Easter
2007, and the extreme drought that summer many wild azaleas responded like they had been
through a forest fire, where the tops died then they put back out from the
roots, thus one disaster may have even saved
them from the other. An actual fire that year would have burned down into the dry humus rich soil and even kill the roots, but any other time a quick low fire can be beneficial although the appearance may not be so for a year or more especially if a mature stand of rhododendrons is reduced to charred trunks with root sprouts, and no flowers such as at the new Little River Canyon Center. In the long term the lower fuel loads will keep any future wildfires and perscribed burns more controllable rather than totally devastating.
The largest is rosebay rhododendron, R. maximum L., and it is the
state flower of West Virginia, and coincidetally piedmont rhododendron, R. minus Michx., is the smallest of these three evergreen rhododendrons all of which can be seen at DeSoto State Park although
there are only one or two specimens each of the later two species. Catawba rhododendron can also be seen in
Little River Canyon Preserve, which is adjacent to 