Index / Search / Rhododendron maximum
§1 Plant
Rhododendron maximum L.
vernacular great laurel — species · Ericaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Ericaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Rhododendron
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 320 counties across 16 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- Low
- Moisture use
- Medium
- Fire
- Medium
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- Low
- CaCO₃
- None
- Hedging
- Medium
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -13 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 150 min.
- Precipitation
- 36–60 in/yr
- pH range
- 4–5.5
- Root depth
- 18 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 25 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 15 ft
- Foliage texture
- Coarse
- Foliage colour
- Dark Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Dense
- Flower colour
- Red
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- Yes
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- Moderate
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Spring
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 5,000,000
- Propagation
- seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Palatable, human
- No
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 320 counties across 16 states/territories.
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 34 N ▾
- Bath 21011
- Bell 21013
- Breathitt 21025
- Campbell 21037
- Carter 21043
- Clay 21051
- Cumberland 21057
- Edmonson 21061
- Elliott 21063
- Estill 21065
- Floyd 21071
- Harlan 21095
- Jackson 21109
- Johnson 21115
- Knott 21119
- Laurel 21125
- Lawrence 21127
- Lee 21129
- Leslie 21131
- Letcher 21133
- Lewis 21135
- McCreary 21147
- Menifee 21165
- Morgan 21175
- Perry 21193
- Pike 21195
- Powell 21197
- Pulaski 21199
- Rockcastle 21203
- Rowan 21205
- Scott 21209
- Wayne 21231
- Whitley 21235
- Wolfe 21237
Massachusetts view state ↗ 4 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 6 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 11 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 29 N ▾
- Albany 36001
- Bronx 36005
- Cattaraugus 36009
- Chautauqua 36013
- Chenango 36017
- Delaware 36025
- Erie 36029
- Fulton 36035
- Genesee 36037
- Hamilton 36041
- Madison 36053
- Monroe 36055
- Oneida 36065
- Orange 36071
- Putnam 36079
- Queens 36081
- Richmond 36085
- Rockland 36087
- Steuben 36101
- Suffolk 36103
- Sullivan 36105
- Tioga 36107
- Tompkins 36109
- Ulster 36111
- Warren 36113
- Wayne 36117
- Westchester 36119
- Wyoming 36121
- Yates 36123
North Carolina view state ↗ 34 N ▾
- Alexander 37003
- Ashe 37009
- Avery 37011
- Buncombe 37021
- Burke 37023
- Caldwell 37027
- Catawba 37035
- Cherokee 37039
- Clay 37043
- Cleveland 37045
- Davidson 37057
- Davie 37059
- Graham 37075
- Greene 37079
- Haywood 37087
- Henderson 37089
- Iredell 37097
- Jackson 37099
- Macon 37113
- Madison 37115
- McDowell 37111
- Mitchell 37121
- Polk 37149
- Rockingham 37157
- Rowan 37159
- Rutherford 37161
- Stokes 37169
- Surry 37171
- Swain 37173
- Transylvania 37175
- Union 37179
- Watauga 37189
- Wilkes 37193
- Yancey 37199
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 57 N ▾
- Adams 42001
- Allegheny 42003
- Armstrong 42005
- Beaver 42007
- Bedford 42009
- Berks 42011
- Blair 42013
- Bucks 42017
- Cambria 42021
- Cameron 42023
- Carbon 42025
- Centre 42027
- Chester 42029
- Clarion 42031
- Clearfield 42033
- Clinton 42035
- Columbia 42037
- Crawford 42039
- Cumberland 42041
- Dauphin 42043
- Elk 42047
- Erie 42049
- Fayette 42051
- Forest 42053
- Franklin 42055
- Fulton 42057
- Greene 42059
- Huntingdon 42061
- Indiana 42063
- Jefferson 42065
- Juniata 42067
- Lackawanna 42069
- Lancaster 42071
- Lehigh 42077
- Luzerne 42079
- Lycoming 42081
- Mifflin 42087
- Monroe 42089
- Montgomery 42091
- Montour 42093
- Northampton 42095
- Northumberland 42097
- Perry 42099
- Philadelphia 42101
- Pike 42103
- Schuylkill 42107
- Snyder 42109
- Somerset 42111
- Sullivan 42113
- Susquehanna 42115
- Union 42119
- Venango 42121
- Warren 42123
- Wayne 42127
- Westmoreland 42129
- Wyoming 42131
- York 42133
Rhode Island view state ↗ 2 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 32 N ▾
- Anderson 47001
- Benton 47005
- Blount 47009
- Campbell 47013
- Carter 47019
- Claiborne 47025
- Cocke 47029
- Cumberland 47035
- Fentress 47049
- Greene 47059
- Grundy 47061
- Hamilton 47065
- Hancock 47067
- Hawkins 47073
- Haywood 47075
- Johnson 47091
- Knox 47093
- Madison 47113
- Marion 47115
- Monroe 47123
- Overton 47133
- Pickett 47137
- Polk 47139
- Rhea 47143
- Scott 47151
- Sequatchie 47153
- Sevier 47155
- Smith 47159
- Unicoi 47171
- Union 47173
- Van Buren 47175
- Washington 47179
Vermont view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 46 N ▾
- Albemarle 51003
- Alleghany 51005
- Augusta 51015
- Bath 51017
- Bedford 51019
- Bland 51021
- Botetourt 51023
- Buchanan 51027
- Campbell 51031
- Caroline 51033
- Carroll 51035
- Clarke 51043
- Craig 51045
- Culpeper 51047
- Dickenson 51051
- Fairfax 51059
- Floyd 51063
- Franklin 51067
- Frederick 51069
- Giles 51071
- Grayson 51077
- Henry 51089
- Highland 51091
- Lee 51105
- Madison 51113
- Montgomery 51121
- Page 51139
- Patrick 51141
- Pittsylvania 51143
- Prince William 51153
- Pulaski 51155
- Roanoke 51161
- Rockbridge 51163
- Rockingham 51165
- Russell 51167
- Scott 51169
- Shenandoah 51171
- Smyth 51173
- Spotsylvania 51177
- Stafford 51179
- Surry 51181
- Tazewell 51185
- Warren 51187
- Washington 51191
- Wise 51195
- Wythe 51197
West Virginia view state ↗ 38 N ▾
- Barbour 54001
- Berkeley 54003
- Boone 54005
- Braxton 54007
- Calhoun 54013
- Clay 54015
- Doddridge 54017
- Fayette 54019
- Gilmer 54021
- Grant 54023
- Greenbrier 54025
- Hampshire 54027
- Hancock 54029
- Hardy 54031
- Harrison 54033
- Jefferson 54037
- Kanawha 54039
- Lewis 54041
- Marion 54049
- McDowell 54047
- Mercer 54055
- Mineral 54057
- Monongalia 54061
- Monroe 54063
- Morgan 54065
- Nicholas 54067
- Pendleton 54071
- Pocahontas 54075
- Preston 54077
- Raleigh 54081
- Randolph 54083
- Summers 54089
- Taylor 54091
- Tucker 54093
- Upshur 54097
- Wayne 54099
- Wirt 54105
- Wyoming 54109
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/RHMA4 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2883094 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T06:33:17Z