Rhododendron flammeum (speciosum) David Geiger The species epithet

The species epithet

for the soft down on the leaf undersides

and fewer still carry evergreen foliage handsome enough to grow for the leaves alone

A relatively recent Texas introduction by Greg Grant

Rhododendron flammeum (speciosum) David Geiger The species epithetThe Oconee azalea is the flame azalea of the lowlands, and for a Southern gardener that difference matters. Where the mountain flame azalea pines for cool Appalachian summers, this Piedmont cousin was born to the heat, thriving in the clay hills and stream bluffs of middle Georgia and South Carolina and taking the humidity of the Deep South in stride. The reward is the same fire in the flower: bright orange to orange red trusses, sometimes shading to