Pink Azalea.Rhododendron nudiflorum.Swamp Pink.Honeysuckle.
Found in swamps, moist woods, and on hillsides in May.
This woody-fibred, branching, and leafy shrub, varies in height from 3 to 6 feet; it has a light, warm-gray bark, nearly smooth to the touch.
The charming leaf is oval in shape, tapering at both ends, with an entire margin; its texture is thin, and the fine surface bears a few soft short scattering hairs. In color it is a light pure golden green. The growth is alternate, and somewhat clustering.
The large flower is, in shape, a long slender tube spreading at the top into 5 long-pointed divisions with a fold in the center of each; the 5 stamens and pistil are all long and slender, extending their curving ends far out from the tube; the calyx is hardly noticeable. The color of the corolla varies from pale to deep rose-pink, the tone deepening toward the base of the tube, while the stamens and pistil are rosy crimson,—the tip of the pistil is pinkish-brown. The flowers grow in groups of 5 or more, on short pale green stems, from the ends of the branches. They are very fragrant.
The very essence of spring seems to dwell in the pink and green colors and the spicy breath of this Azalea. The gesture in dropping its flowers is graceful,—the blossom, sliding down the long pistil, hangs swaying on its tip for some time before it finally drops softly to the earth. The branches, especially the lower ones, swing out from the bush in long free curves.