Rhododendron menziesii
false azalea, fool's huckleberry, rusty menziesia
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Alberta, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

Habitat: Forest understory and edges from middle elevations to the subalpine.

Flowers: April-June

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Bumblebees, bees, flies, beetles, moths, hummingbirds, sawflies

Description:
General:

Thicket-forming deciduous shrubs, erect, 1-2 m, branching, unpleasantly scented when bruised, older bark shredding or glabrous, twigs finely hairy.

Leaves:

Leaves alternate, bright green but lighter beneath, generally elliptic to obovate, apex acute, 3-6 cm long, both sides of leave somewhat glandular or hairy, margins entire and glandular, petioles 2-4 mm, often clustered towards ends of branches.

Flowers:

Flowers clustered terminally, appearing with leaves; peduncles 1-2 cm, glandular to hairy; calyx 0.5-1 mm, 4-lobed, margins irregular and glandular; corolla greenish or yellowish red or bronze, 6-10 mm long and 5 mm broad, 4-lobed, lobes 1.5 mm; stamens 8, filaments somewhat flat, slender and tapering with hairs near base, anthers linear; ovary glandular, globose.

Fruits:

Capsules ovoid to ovoid-oblong, 5-8 mm, glabrous to sparsely glandular or pubescent.

Accepted Name:
Rhododendron menziesii Craven
Publication: Blumea 56(1): 34. (16 Mar 2011). 2011.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Menziesia ferruginea Sm. [FNA8, HC]
Menziesia ferruginea Sm. ssp. ferruginea
Menziesia ferruginea Sm. ssp. glabella (A. Gray) Calder & Roy L. Taylor
Menziesia ferruginea Sm. var. ferruginea [HC]
Menziesia ferruginea Sm. var. glabella (A. Gray) M. Peck [HC]
Menziesia glabella A. Gray
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Rhododendron menziesii in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Rhododendron menziesii checklist entry

OregonFlora: Rhododendron menziesii information

E-Flora BC: Rhododendron menziesii atlas page

CalPhotos: Rhododendron menziesii photos

49 photographs:
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