| Author | (Michaux) Sweet | |
| Distribution | Restricted to the southern Coastal Plain, north to Robeson and Bladen counties. Widely scattered records in the eastern Piedmont and possibly in the Mountains are incorrectly identified.
The species has a more east-west range than north-south range. It ranges north only to NC, northern TN, and extreme southern IL; it occurs south to central FL, the Gulf of Mexico, and southeastern TX. This species is quite similar to one or two others, especially R. periclymenoides, and thus some extralimital reports may be in error.
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| Abundance | Generally uncommon or rare in the southern Coastal Plain; not common or widespread. | |
| Habitat | This species is most frequent along the margins of swamps and other wet/damp forests, such as creek margins. It may occur at times in pocosins or savanna margins. | |
| Phenology | Blooms from March to early May, usually before the leaves expand; fruits in September and October. | |
| Identification | This is a medium-sized, deciduous shrub growing from 3-10 feet tall, typically at least 6 feet tall. It has the typical large “azalea” flowers of all deciduous Rhododendron species, being light pink to rarely white. However, it looks very similar to the much more common and widespread Pink Azalea (R. periclymenoides), though the latter species generally is found to the north of R. canescens in NC. Where both species occur in the same region, Hoary Azalea usually occurs in wetter, swampier habitat; the twigs are typically quite hairy/tomentose; and the floral tube is usually narrower and longer than on Pink Azalea (making the petals look shorter). | |
| Taxonomic Comments | A few references, including NatureServe, list varieties for this species, but most do not. A few old references suggested that this species and R. periclymenoides might be the same species.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Piedmont Azalea, Mountain Azalea, Southern Pinxter Azalea, Wild Azalea, Florida Pinxter Azalea. No single common name is really a dominant one, including Hoary Azalea. | |
| State Rank | S2S3 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACW link |
| USACE-emp | FACW link |
