Plant Database

From the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Shape: Elliptic , Obovate , Ovate
Leaf Pubescence: Glandular , Hirsute
Leaf Margin: Entire
Leaf Base: Cuneate , Rounded
Leaf Texture: Leathery
Breeding System: Flowers Bisexual
Inflorescence: Corymb
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: To about 15 feet in height.
Leaf: Leaves have both glandular and eglandular hairs. Margins are sometimes ciliate.
Flower: Flowers are funnelform, about 2 inches in diameter, showy, borne in corymbs of five to ten flowers, strongly fragrant. Flowers open after the leaves have expanded. (Webref 3). The one style and five staminal filaments are pink and strongly exserted. The stigma is green and capitate.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: May , Jun
Bloom Notes: Flowers are white (sometimes tinged pink at opening), usually with a yellowish-orange blotch on the upper lobe.

Distribution

USA: SC
Native Distribution: Endemic to South Carolina, primarily in the watersheds of the Broad River and the Congaree River.
Native Habitat: Deciduous forests on north-facing slopes -- often on steep bluffs -- near limestone and often near streams.(Webref 3)

Growing Conditions

Light Requirement: Part Shade , Shade
Soil Moisture: Moist
Soil pH: Acidic (pH<6.8) , Circumneutral (pH 6.8-7.2)
Soil Description: Slightly acidic, sandy loam.

Web Reference

Webref 3 - Flora of North America (2014) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.

Additional resources

USDA: Find Rhododendron eastmanii in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Rhododendron eastmanii in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Rhododendron eastmanii