Big Laurel
(Rhododendron Maximum)
Adopted on January 23, 1903.
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.
- 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.
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 |
|