Rhodora

Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.

Scientific name: Rhododendron canadense (L.) Torr.

Common name(s): rhodora, Canada rosebay

Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany

Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)

Description:

perennial, woody shrub

– flowers before and/or with leafout

– rose-purple flowers with two-lipped corolla emerge late May-early June in ME

-reaches 1’-3’ in height

-yellowish twigs

buds clusters at twig end and terminal buds have flowers larger than leaf buds

-leaves are

  • Alternate
  • oblong to elliptical
  • hairy leaves dark green above and light green beneath.

Habitat:

-Prefers bogs and poorly drained soils.

-disturbed sites

-meadows and fields

-shores of rivers

Wildlife uses:

– host plant for the Columbia silkmoth (Hyalophora columbia) in Maine

-attracts bees

 

Source(s):

Hansen, R.W., S.B. Hansen and E.A. Osgood. 1991. Reproductive phenologies of selected flowering plants in eastern Maine forests. ME Agric. Exp. Station Tech. Bull. 143. 17 pp.

Heinrich, B. 1976. Flowering phenologies: Bog, woodland, and disturbed habitats. Ecology. 57(5):890-899.

Go Botany. “Rhododendron Canadense (L.) Torr.” Rhododendron Canadense (Canada Rosebay, Rhodora): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/rhododendron/canadense/.