| Author | (Michaux) Torrey | |
| Distribution | Throughout the Mountains, and also locally in the Piedmont foothills and sparingly into the western third of the Piedmont.
This is a southern and central Appalachian endemic. It ranges north only to southern PA and southern OH; it extends south to western GA and central AL.
| |
| Abundance | Common and widespread across the Mountains, occurring in all counties. Quite local and generally rare to uncommon in the foothills, and very rare and restricted mainly to cool slopes and bluffs in the west-central Piedmont. | |
| Habitat | This is a characteristic shrub of dry to mesic hardwood forests – especially forests dominated by oaks, more numerous at high elevations. It is not found in rich cove forests. It can be found around the margins of grass or shrub balds. In the Piedmont, where the climate is warmer, it favors cool, sheltered north-facing slopes and bluffs. | |
| Phenology | Blooms from late April to June, and rarely to July, generally as the leaves are unfurling; fruits from July to September. | |
| Identification | This is a medium-sized, deciduous shrub, growing to an average of 6-15 feet tall. When in bloom, with its nearly unique large orange flowers – few shrubs in the region have orange flowers – it cannot be mistaken and is one of the showiest of all shrubs. The flowers range from a yellow-orange to scarlet, but on a given shrub the flowers are the same color. If not in bloom, Flame Azalea can be difficult to identify, as its obovate, clustered leaves – not overly shiny or dark, do not attract attention. Note that the very rare Cumberland Azalea (R. cumberlandense) has red to scarlet flowers and grows in a small area of the Flame Azalea’s range; check that species account for more information on identification. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | No issues with this being a good species, but one or two other taxa – such as Cumberland Azalea – have been included within R. calendulaceum by some authorities, at least in the past.
| |
| Other Common Name(s) | None | |
| State Rank | S5 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
