Rhododendron oblongifolium (Small) Millais

A deciduous azalea, up to 6 ft high; young shoots more or less bristly. Leaves obovate to oblanceolate, 11⁄2 to 4 in. long, 1⁄2 to 11⁄2 in. wide. Flowers slightly fragrant, produced after the leaves in seven- to twelve-flowered clusters. Calyx small, bristly. Corolla funnel-shaped, pure white, with a cylindrical tube 3⁄4 to 1 in. long and more or less glandular and hairy outside. Stamens five, about 2 in. long, hairy below the middle; ovary covered with bristly hairs; style longer than the stamens.

(s. Azalea ss. Luteum)

Native of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, growing, according to Rehder, in moist sandy woods or on the margins of sandy bogs or streams; introduced by means of seeds sent to Britain by Prof. Sargent in 1917. Numerous plants were raised which have proved quite hardy at Kew, where it flowers in July and even later. The leaves are glaucous beneath and bristly on the midrib and margins. It seems to be very close in botanical relationship to R. viscosum, but Rehder relies on its longer, more oblong calyx-lobes, its downy winter-buds and larger leaves. I do not consider it so good a garden azalea as R. viscosum, but it is worth noting that in Oklahoma it has been found growing on limestone.