Alternate name: California Rhododendron, California Rosebay
Family: Ericaceae, Heath view all from this family
Description Evergreen shrub with large, deep green, leathery leaves and rounded clusters of large, pink, tubular flowers.
Height: 4—10’ (1.2—3 m); less common to 20’ (6 m) nearly treelike.
Leaves: evergreen; alternate but often so closely spaced as to seem whorled; 2 1/2—8” (6—20 cm) long; petioles stout. Leathery, thick, not toothed, oblong to elliptical; dark green and hairless above, paler and sometimes rusty beneath.
Flowers: pink to rose-purple, rarely white, about 1 1/2” (3.8 cm) long, with 5 wavy-margined petals united to form a broadly bell-shaped corolla about 1 1/2” (3.8 cm) long; in rounded clusters up to 6” (15 cm) across; May—June.
Fruit: capsule about 3/4” (2 cm) long.
Warning Rhododendron leaves and flowers contain poisonous substances and should not be ingested by humans or animals. Honey made from these flowers also may be toxic. Sensitivity to a toxin varies with a person’s age, weight, physical condition, and individual susceptibility. Children are most vulnerable because of their curiosity and small size. Toxicity can vary in a plant according to season, the plant’s different parts, and its stage of growth; and plants can absorb toxic substances, such as herbicides, pesticides, and pollutants from the water, air, and soil.
Habitat Acidic soils in open or shady forest.
Range SW. British Columbia south along coast and in Cascades to central California.
Discussion This is the showiest flowering shrub in the forests of western North America, with flower clusters that nearly rival in size and number those of its cultivated relatives. Pacific Rhododendron is confined to drier forest environments in western Washington, where it is the state flower. These same environments, however, are among the moister ones occurring in northern California, at the southern limit of this shrub’s range. The plant is most abundant in Oregon, where mass displays provide a spectacular show in late spring and early summer.
