FAMILY: ERICACEAE

ALTERNATE COMMON NAME: bush honeysuckle

LEAVES: alternate, simple, deciduous, soft, pubescent; 1-2.5”, entire; leaves clustered at branch tips, appear whorled

FLOWER: showy, white to pink; 1-2”, corolla long tubular, stamens 3x longer, abruptly flaring, glandular hairy; March to April, before leaves fully developed

FRUIT: capsule, 3/4 inch

TWIGS: thin, curving, brittle, brown

BARK: new stems green; old, brown

FORM: shrub to 2 meters

HABITAT: moist upland acid soils

WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative Wetland (FACW): Usually occurs in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region

RANGE: southeast US

USES: ornamental

Best Recognition Features:

1. showy spring flowering
2. soft pubescent leaf
3. new stem - green; old stem - brown
4. leaves appear whorled at branch tips

NOTES: Florida azalea (Rhododendron austrinum) has golden yellow flowers and is found on the coastal plain Florida to Mississippi; swamp or summer azalea (Rhododendron serrulatum) has white flowers in July and August