Pinxterbloom Azalea

The photos of this lovely plant were recently sent to me by a reader. This plant's common and scientific name are both mouthfuls: Pinxterbloom Azalea, or Rhododendron periclymenoides.


With such great, multisyllabic words like that, I think we can keep this post simply to etymology.

Rhododendron, in Greek, literally means rose-tree (rhodo: rose; dendron: tree). Periclymenoides means 'looks like periclymen.' -Oides is always a great clue in nomenclature; it means 'looks like.' But this is only helpful if one knows what periclymen means. That's a species name for a honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymen. This rhodi looks like that honeysuckle. Both have flowers that change in color as they age, and that's the reason they are given this species name. Periklymenon was a Greek argonaut who was also a shapeshifter.

Okay, so that settles the scientific name. But why a clumsy word like pinxterbloom? Pinxter is Dutch for Pentecost and this plant has the common name as it blooms during the liturgical holiday. The word azalea is from the Greek azaleos, which refers to the ability of this plant to withstand dry climates.

Snow Azalea

Well, first of all, if any common name conjured up the this time of year, I think it would have to be 'snow azalea' - the common name for Rhododendron mucronulatum. It's called that because it blooms so early in the spring that it could be sitting on a few inches of snow. I'm happy to say that when I encountered this plant this morning in Central Park, this was not the case.


On a personal note, this photo wasn't taken with my trusty Canon, but instead with a new toy - my new iPhone. There's a special joy in having this; now I can listen to streaming radio on a run in the park and take snapshots like this. Of course the quality's not quite as good, but it beats retracing my steps this Saturday with a regular camera, only to find the blooms have fallen.



Back to the plant. Rhododendron mucronulatum is native to Korea and parts of East Asia. It's natural habitat is on rocky slopes at elevations of one to five thousand feet. You can see how it would then enjoy this location, on a hillside in the park.

As I've mentioned before, Rhododendron, in Greek, literally means rose-tree (rhodo: rose; dendron: tree). The species name essentially means little points, referring to the small points on the end of the leaves. Evidently, when crushed, the leaves emit a pleasant fragrance. Though we need a bit more time before we can test that out.