Index / Search / Rhododendron maximum

§1 Plant

Rhododendron maximum L.

vernacular great laurel — species · Ericaceae


USDA
RHMA4
GBIF
2883094
Rank
species
great laurel (Rhododendron maximum)
Platephotograph · Lori A OwenbyCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§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
Legend Native · 320 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§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
Maine view state ↗ 4 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 4 N
New Hampshire view state ↗ 6 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 11 N
New York view state ↗ 29 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 34 N
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 57 N
Rhode Island view state ↗ 2 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 2 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 32 N
Vermont view state ↗ 4 N
Virginia view state ↗ 46 N
West Virginia view state ↗ 38 N

§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