Californian Azalea
Rhododendron Occidentale, Gray. Heath Family
Shrubs two to twelve feet high. Leaves.—Clustered at the ends of the branches; obovate to lanceolate; two to four inches long; herbaceous. Flower-clusters.—Large, from a special terminal bud. Calyx.—Deeply five-cleft. Corolla.—With funnel-form tube, and five-cleft border; white; the upper lobe blotched with corn-color; sometimes tinged with pink; glandular-viscid without. Stamens.—Five. Anthers two-celled, opening terminally. Ovary.—Five-celled. Capsule.—Very woody. Hab.—Stream-banks throughout the State.
One of the most deservedly admired of all our shrubs is the lovely Californian azalea. In June and July, the borders of our mountain streams are covered for miles with the bushes, whose rich green foliage is often almost obscured from view by the magnificent clusters of white and yellow, or sometimes pinkish, flowers. Its delicious, spicy perfume is always subtly suggestive of charming days spent with rod and line along cool streams, or of those all too brief outings spent far from the haunts of men, in some sequestered mountain-cabin among redwood groves or by rushing waters.
In Oregon it is commonly known as “honeysuckle,” and there in the autumn its life ebbs away in a flood of glory, showering the forest floor with flecks of scarlet and crimson. Its root is said to contain a strong narcotic poison, and the leaves are also reputed to be poisonous if eaten, but they are not at all harmful to the touch.
CALIFORNIAN AZALEA—Rhododendron occidentale.