Lucas Land

Pink Azalea

or Pinxter Flower

Rhododendron periclymenoides

Leaf: Alternate, simple, pinnately veined, deciduous, 1 to 3 inches long, ovate, dull green above and green below with a ciliate margin. The texture is papery.

Flower: Very showy, pink, appearing with or just before the leaves. Flowering March to May.

Fruit: An oblong capsule, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, with ascending hairs. The capsule splits when ripe, releasing the very tiny, somewhat winged seeds.

Twig: Very slender, red-brown to gray, bristly-hairy. The buds are multiple terminal, flower buds are 1/2 inch long. Buds are hairless.

Bark: Brown, becoming finely shreddy. The multiple terminal buds often result in whorls of twigs from the central stem.