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Ericaceae
Catawba Rhododendron
Rhododendron catawbiense
Highland endurance and mountain abundance.
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Genus
- Rhododendron
- Native to
- southern Appalachians, eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Late Spring
- Type
- evergreen shrub
- Height
- 2–4 m
- Sunlight
- part shade
- Soil
- acidic, moist, well-drained
- Water
- medium
- Hardiness
- 4–8
- Lifespan
- long-lived shrub
Did you know
- Its enormous trusses of lavender-pink flowers blanket whole peaks of the Blue Ridge each June, called 'rhododendron heaths'.
- Botanist André Michaux first described it from the Catawba River region of North Carolina in the 1790s.
- All parts of the plant contain grayanotoxins — honey from its flowers is the famous 'mad honey' that intoxicated Xenophon's army.
- It is the parent of countless cold-hardy garden hybrids that brought rhododendrons to northern Europe and New England.
- Carolina Mountain peoples used the leathery leaves as a roofing material in temporary shelters.
Color meanings
Pink
Appalachian welcome
Purple
mountain royalty
Lavender
misty heights
White
summit purity