Big Laurel
(Rhododendron Maximum)
Adopted on January 23, 1903.
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The Big Laurel, Rhododendron Maximum, is the state flower of West Virginia. It was selected on January 23, 1903, by the Legislature, following a vote by pupils of the public schools. It is a shrub of the heath family and may be recognized by its large dark evergreen leaves and delicate pale pink or white bloom, mottled with either red or yellow flecks.
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- Leaf: Evergreen, alternate, simple, pinnately veined, 4 to 10 inches long, elliptical, with entire margins. Leaves are dark green and shiny above, whitish with rust colored hair , with rolled edges that curl in winter.
- Flower: Showy, large, pale pink or white with a corolla of five rounded petals. Flower stems sticky. June to July.
- Fruit: Many tiny seeds borne in a long stemmed, red-brown capsule (1/2 inch long), splitting along five lines when mature (October).
- Twig: Stout, whitish green in color, covered with reddish-brown hair. Vegetative buds are small, appearing enclosed in small leaves. Flower buds are egg-shaped, enclosed in rusty, pubescent scales.
- Bark: Thin, light brown and smooth when young. Broken into thin scales on older stems.
- Form: A large shrub or small tree with several twisted stems that may form an impassable thicket. Height: 5-40'.
- Habitat: Wet woods, swamps.
- Range: Eastern and midwestern United States, Native, but often cultivated.
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
|
Kingdom |
Plantae -- Plants |
Subkingdom |
Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants |
Superdivision |
Spermatophyta ? Seed plants |
Division |
Magnoliophyta ? Flowering plants |
Class |
Magnoliopsida ? Dicotyledons |
Subclass |
Dilleniidae ? |
Order |
Ericales ? |
Family |
Ericaceae ? Heath family |
Genus |
Rhododendron? L. ? Rhododendron |
Species |
Rhododendron Maximum macrophyllum D. Don ex G. Don ? Pacific rhododendron |
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