Rhododendron austrinum JC Raulston Arboretum fan-shaped leaves straight from the

fan-shaped leaves straight from the ground

George took to 'Magic Dragon' at once

brushing off heat

honest flowers on a graceful frame

Few native shrubs are so obliging

Rhododendron austrinum JC Raulston Arboretum fan-shaped leaves straight from theRhododendron austrinum, the Florida azalea, is among the earliest and most powerfully fragrant of all the wild deciduous azaleas of the Deep South. Native to the Florida Panhandle, southern Georgia, southern Alabama, and into Mississippi, the species haunts open pine woods, ravine slopes, and river bluffs, often growing in sandy, acidic ground beneath tall longleaf pines. The species name austrinum simply means southern, a fitting label for an azalea