Rhododendrons

Rhododendron viscosum
(deciduous Azalea)
Subgenus Pentanthera, Section Pentanthera
Epithet: sticky
H6
AM (F) 1921 (Strover, London) as Azalea viscosa,
AGM (1993, 2002) 2012
An upright deciduous shrub usually to 1.5-2m in cultivation, but can be a small tree in the wild.
Height to 4.5m
10 year height/spread: 1.5m/1.2m
Flowers: tubular funnel shaped, 3 to 4.5cm long and 1.5-2.5cm across, with a noticeably long slender (1.5-3cm long) tube in trusses of 3-14; white or white shaded pink, after the leaves; with a strong spicy fragrance.
June/July
Introduced: 1734 by Bartram
Distribution: widely distributed from Maine southwards to Tennessee, and east to Ohio and Louisiana.
Recognise by: the far reaching spicy scent, and the narrow long corolla tube covered externally with long stalked (sticky) glands; the relatively small, usually oblanceolate leaves which are almost always smooth (not pubescent) on both surfaces and have strigose margins; the twiggy upright growth.
'Rhodoanthum' is the usual pink form of this species.
Called the 'swamp azalea', this species grows well in wet but not stagnant soils in sun.