Species In Our Midst
Rhododendron prunifolium

by George Silverman

Rhododendron prunifolium 'Hohman' (Hill)
Picture by Dick Brooks

RHODODENDRON prunifolium (small) (Millais)

PLUMLEAF AZALEA

According to Fred C. Calle in his treatise Azaleas Revisited, Portland, Oregon, Timber Press 1987, this species was first collected by R.M. Harper of Cuthbert, Georgia in 1913, as A. prunifolium and was introduced into cultivation in 1918 by the Arnold Arboretum. This deciduous late blooming azalea grows in an extremely limited range in southwestern Georgia and eastern Alabama. Blooming after the leaves are fully developed in late summer presenting colors of reddish orange to vivid red, Galle describes tubes sparingly hirsute and usually glandular (hairless). Winter flower buds are greenish to light brown and glabrous similar to R. arborescens which has lighted colored stems in winter flower buds. Hardy in Zone 7A through 9B and moderately easy to propagate by soft wood cuttings.

Cox, P.A. in his treatise, The Larger Rhododendron Species, Portland, Oregon, Timber Press 1990, expressed concern that this species was in danger of extinction in the wild with few young seedlings to be seen. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Naturalist, James R. Allison, states that the ability of this species to occupy the brinks of stream banks or other steep slopes account for the fact that apparently not a single well documented population has been extirpated and that no natural populations of R. prunifolium are known to be have been impacted by development. He concludes that R. prunifolium is a species not in the least threatened with extinction within the foreseeable future and does not recommend any modification of current management policies or actions in areas supporting this species. Status Report on Rhododendron prunifolium, November 30, 1988.

Charles and C.J. Patterson report their plant of R. prunifolium to be in bloom on August 20 in Norwell, Massachusetts. George Hibbin of is propagating this species in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Should the species prove hardy in Zone 6 or colder, the species study group would be interested as it would make an excellent candidate for breeding late blooming deciduous hybrids.