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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Blooming now at Leach Research Station Rhododendron prunifolium Native to the SE US #bloomscrolling

Wide view of this rather massive plant, accessioned in 1988, about 3m tall and 6m diameter, love the way the flowers are presented as a cascade 😍

Cute unopened flowers look like funny fingers on a claw hand

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Fantastic Rhododendron research poster today at Holden Forests & Gardens SEARCH Symposium “Interspecies Comparison of Predawn Photoprotective Pigments in North American Rhododendron leaves” Lindsey Babcock, Maddie Suma, Dylann Nakaji-Conley & Juliana Medeiros Handmade poster! amazing diagrams! 🧪👏🏼

Lindsey Babcock and Maddie Suma, two of the authors, with their beautiful hand made poster

$A paper cut diagram of the concepts and methods including the mechanism of photoprotection and the role of PsBs Plus pigment extraction process and HPLC fractionation$ Handmade paper cut diagram of the species and their geographic origins, and descriptions of the photosynthetic and photoprotective pigments under study

Handmade paper cut diagram of the species and their geographic origins, and descriptions of the photosynthetic and photoprotective pigments under study

The data! Species had similar photoprotection at predawn, except for Rhododendron gorenlandicum, a species that is native to Ohio but which tends to suffer mightily in the hotter summer heat. The data shows it has high predawn photoprotection, indicating that the plant is not photosynthetic during July 2025 at our location. This may explain their higher summer mortality in our garden compared to other species

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Flying drones over Rhododendron thickets, looking to distinguish the species which are all grown together using multispectral imaging

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Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

It’s plumleaf azalea season again. Such a weird time for a Rhododendron to flower. This one came from Niche Gardens before they went out of business, and it is now about 8’ tall and wide. Give it a few more years, and it will compete with the big one at NC Botanical Garden. 🌱

A Rhododendron prunifolium with orange-red flowers that have long stamens.

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Rafael Marcondes @rafamarcondes.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Exactly what I said in my rebuttal letter!!! Being inspiring and aesthetic are important features of scientific figures, sometimes even more than pure informativeness!

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Blooming today at Leach Research Station Rhododendron prunifolium 😍

Azalea with bright red trumpet shaped flowers

Wide view of the red flowered azalea. Absolutely loaded with blooms

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Ooh I know my rhodo friends have some nice plant photos for this contest!

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

🚨Rhododendron mariae provides protection against Dengue Fever 📣novel antiviral candidate towards DENV-2 ‼️effect initiated at the stage of virus adsorption to the cell surface 🔔demonstrated efficacy against DENV both in vitro and in vivo 🧪🪴🌿⚕️🍁

sciencedirect.com

Rhododendron mariae Hance protects against dengue virus infection by targeting viral entry and modulating host-pathogen interactions

Dengue virus (DENV) infection continues to pose a significant global public health threat, driven by complex host-pathogen dynamics and the absence of…

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

One of my favorite objects in the whole world Hand painted George & Martha Washington AND Azaleas tea saucer Because why not 🤷🏻‍♀️

Hand painted pink tea saucer with gold edges featuring The First US President and Azaleas - to be fair the intended identity of the flowers is somewhat debatable, strays a bit from azaleas in some regard. Currently holding my afternoon pick me up snack of better and sea salt biscuits (in the British sense)

Nick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

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Rhododendron niewenhuisii. The name is bigger than the plant. This is a lowland epiphyte from Borneo, and it likes warmer temperatures than most vireyas. Cool foliage; pretty, but not spectacular, flowers alone or in pairs. 🌴🌱

A rhododendron twig with narrow, rugose foliage and one yellow flower.

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Very successful integration of rhododendron conservation and human livelihoods 🤔 “…a shopkeeper in Basantapur, acknowledged selling rhododendron alcohol from his store. He insisted, however, “My family makes this alcohol from flowers grown in our garden, we do not collect them from the forest.”

news.mongabay.com

Nepal’s rhododendron tourism sparks unchecked liquor trade concerns

TINJURE-MILKE-JALJALE, Nepal — Every April, Nima Sherpa’s family used to picnic in a rhododendron (lali guras in Nepali) forest about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from her home at Basantapur Bazaar in Tehra...

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

📣 Conference Proceedings from the 2025 Virtual International Convention Highlighting the many different areas of study in this amazingly diverse and fascinating genus www.rhododendron.org/ri/v9.pdf

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

A Bee’s Eye View 🐝 👁️ Vireya ‘Sister of St Valentine” blooming right now in my office #bloomscrolling #houseplants

Pinkish red rhododendron flowers seen from below, with their flared corolla

Side view of the pant showing the pendant blooms

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

We”ll be there! Cant wait to see everyone… Eager to bore you all to tears with our incessant Rhodo-babble 😹

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Turns out breeder David Leach was thinking a lot about Rhododendron semibarbatum, even included this odd species in a cladogram in his book Rhododendrons of the World Leach hypothesized evergreen azaleas were closest relatives of deciduous azaleas, which we now know to be incorrect based on DNA

A hand drawn cladogram showing R semibarbatum as related to evergreen and deciduous azaleas.

Full view of the cladogram with semi barbatum and other rhododendron

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M Meerkat @kackbro.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Blue Ridge Mountains.......

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

The curious case of Rhododendron semibarbatum Flowers in groups of 5-6 at the junction where previous year branches diverged, randomly rotated so the flare appears at any orientation 🤔🥰 Leaves deciduous, new growth red then turns green Subgenus Mumazalea Origin Japan Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu 🪴🌺

Close up of flowers showing random orientation of the flare, which is usually at the “top” of rhododendron flowers

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Wowzers 🤩 Tag said Rhododendron’Alisa’ Assuming some selection or hybrid of R. Prunifolium

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

If there was ever a person who you felt had been a mentor to you no matter how small their gesture that made you feel seen I’m here to tell you, you can reach out to that person at any time they would love to hear from you to celebrate wins, stay afloat in a storm, or just get some perspective

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

☠️ There are times when following the recipe means life or death! Rhododendron are toxic, but the flowers of some species can be eaten with the right preparation providing interesting flavors and a wealth of bioactive compounds Rhododendron, It’s the Fugu of the plant world!

en.wikipedia.org

Fugu - Wikipedia

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

How to Safely consume Rhododendron Flowers? the Bai nationality has a traditional edible practice of Rhododendron decorum removing the androecium/gynoecium plus traditional processing This can effectively reduce edible risks while retaining flavor and functional active components 🧪🪴⚕️🍁🌏

frontiersin.org

Frontiers | Dual Modulation of Toxic Risks and Functional Benefits: How Traditional Practices Enable Safe Consumption of Toxic Rhododendron decorum Franch. in Ethnic Cuisine

The corollas of Rhododendron decorum Franch. have been used as a traditional ethnic food by the Bai nationality in Yunnan, China for centuries, with a well-p...

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

An absolutely fantastic article about the history of Rhododendron ponticum in Scotland “While we rail against R ponticum harming our nave flora, we oen fail to acknowledge our responsibility. We gave it a foothold and also facilitated any ecological obstacles that might have checked it.”

research-scotland.ac.uk

Rhododendron: a rose by any other name

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

🤩🌺Rhododendron arboreum subspecies cinnamomeum Photo taken at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way WA, Spring 2017 #bloomscrolling

A white rhododendron with large dark green glossy leaves and a massive truss,which is what the call an inflorescence in rhododendron, with about 20 individual flowers

Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Rhododendron arboreum has exceptionally wide longitudinal & elevational distribution subsp. arboreum N India, Bhutan, W Nepal subsp. cinnamomeum central Nepal to Bhutan This study shows modified leaf indumentum & wood structure allowed expansion of this species throughout the Himalayas 🧪🍁🌏🪴

academic.oup.com

Phenotypic and genetic variation among Rhododendron arboreum species complex widely distributed throughout the Himalayas suggests an obscure geographic origin of the clade

AbstractBackground and Aims. Among the genus Rhododendron growing in Asia, R. arboreum has an exceptionally wide longitudinal and elevational distribution

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Rhododendron has soooooo many Shades of #purpule

A purple Rododendron cultivar with tiny flowers and tiny leaves a hand is shown for scale. The entire plant is about the size of the hand. The flowers are about the size of a fingernail. The leaves are about the size of a half a fingernail.

A purple wrote an engine this one has long spiky answers and statements and star shaped flowers. Rhododendron rivulare

Yet another purple rhododendrons, this one has a puffy ball shaped flower. Rhododendron sichotense

Lavender purple with tan colored stamens.
rhododendron lapponicum

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Miya115 @miya1156.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Mt. Fuji Japan.

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

wild azaleas with melting snow

Red and unhinged wild azalea bush in the foreground, deigning to frame a still partially snowy mountain behind it, the melting snow from the mountains making the river to the right very aggressive. Blue sky with white clouds.

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Rhododendron @heyrhododendron.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Rhododendron lowndesii endemic medicinal plant of Nepal 3000–4100m phytochemical composition & bioactivities: 👏🏼alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, steroids, terpenoids, coumarins 👏🏼Strong Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity 👏🏼pharmacologically significant compounds zapotin and cepharanthine 🧪🍁🪴🌏⚕️

journals.lww.com

Bioactive potential of Rhododendron lowndesii: Extraction,... : Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research

.50% ± 0.92% yield. Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of the extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, steroids, terpenoids, coumarins, and carbohydrates, with...