Rhododendron vaseyi and the Southern Appalachians John Brown—Cleveland, Bob Stelloh—Hendersonville,

Editor 's Note: The following article was adapted from a presentation made by John Brown and Bob Stelloh at the 2009 ASA Convention in Herndon, Vir- ginia. It was adapted by them from a presentation originally prepared by Don Hyatt and George McLellan. The presentation included 188 slides, and may be made available as a CD-ROM

Dliododendron vaseyi A. Gray, one of ll the finest and more unusual native North American azalea species, was discovered at the "summit of a balsam mountain seven miles south west from Webster, Jackson County, North Caro- lina." [1] by Dr. George Vasey in 1878. This is shown by the leftmost star on h the R. vaseyi Distribution Map. It was llo le named by Asa Gray in honor of Dr. b S - o Vasey's son, who was also a botanist. In 1899 it was renamed Azalea vaseyi h lo (A. Gray) Rehder by Alfred Rehder as • R. vaseyi Distribution Map: Blue Ridge part of his reclassification of the genus Parkway (not labeled) starts at the top Rhododendron. In 1903 it was then re- right, arcs down to right of center and named Biltia vaseyi (A. Gray) Small by back up to the top left of center. J. K. Small to honor George W. Vander- bilt, owner of the Biltmore Estate near northerly-growing R. canadense. Asheville, North Carolina. (Now 8,000 The buds are shorter and fatter than acres, the Biltmore Estate once includ- those of other native American azaleas, ed more than 125,000 acres of forest and they open before the leaves expand. land, of which 86,000 acres was sold to In the wild, they typically open from the in 1914 to become the mid-April to May depending upon Pisgah National Forest, home to many the elevation. This coincides with the R. vaseyi). It is now safely back in the bloom time of many other ericaceous • R. vaseyi bud. genus Rhododendron as R. vaseyi, with plants along the Blue Ridge Parkway. ♦ Almost a picotee the common name Pinkshell Azalea. Rather than having the trumpet- shaped flowers of all other native Amer- Description ican azaleas (except R. canadense), R. Relative to other native American vaseyi flowers have a flat face on a long azaleas, R. vaseyi has distinctive buds, flower stalk (pedicel), with three some- flowers, leaves, and seed pods. It has what fused upper petals and two longer perhaps the most limited distribution and flaring lower petals. The flowers of our native azaleas, being found only are typically pale pink to pale pur-

in the more mountainous counties in plish pink with a greenish throat and tt a

western North Carolina. Not known to brownish red dots at the base. Along Hy Don cross with any other azaleas, it is prob- with many shades of pink, sought-after ably most closely related to the more to color variations range from pure white Pho

66 • The Azalean / Fall 2009 ('White Find')todeeppinkishred(`Don'sRed'),withcolor shapes rangefromroundedtonarrow,allthewaystrappet- gins. Theflowerwidthrangesfrom1.5to2.25inches.Flow- patterns rangingfromsolidtonear-picoteewithdarkermar- als. Theflowersarearrangedas5to15pertrusswith occasional balltrusses.Thenumberofflowerspertrussisnot splitting openattheendsaswithotherazaleas,instead grown infullsun,thedarkgreenleavesturnabeautifulma- conditions. consistent fromyeartoyear,andmaydependupongrowing cluding flowerswithsixpetalsandthreepetals.Petal ers mayhave5to7stamens,ofwhich2(of5)or36 when growninfullsun,toopen,archingandartistic when ward thetipsofshoots.Onmanyplants,particularlywhen 7) areshortandstraight,theotherslongcurving. The flowersarenotfragrant. about 15feet. narrowly ellipticaltowardtheendsofstems;to5inches grown inshade.Ittypicallygrowsasanuprightshrub to roon colorinthefallbeforedroppingoff. leaves arealternate,withmorecloselyspacedinternodesto- long andbroadlyovatetowardthebaseofplant.The observing whereitgrowsinthewild. sun, whereitdevelopsitstypically beautifulmaroonfallfo- soil onsteepslopesoverrocksandnearmoistseeps, which in themiddleofpodstodisperseverysmallseed. translates toaneedforgooddrainageinthegarden,although ciduous trees translatestopartshade.As withmostazaleas, experience showsitneeds nomoremoisturethanmostaza- liage quiteearlyinthegrowing season.Growingunderde- forest canopies.Growingon exposedridgestranslatestofull leas. Itgrowsbothonexposed ridgesandunderdeciduous A numberofflower-formvariationshavebeenfound,in- We canlearnhowtocareforaplantinourgarden by R. vaseyi The planthabitof R. vaseyi ♦ has relativelysmallseedpodswhich,ratherthan has twodistinctleafshapes:2.5incheslongand Cherry Pink:Salem.NewHampshire R. vaseyi Culture varies fromdenseandfull R. vaseyi grows inthin

Photo Sally,John Perk ns bloom (butashortertime)thanwhenitisgrownin part shade. full sunusuallyproducesamorecompactplantand North Carolina,andpossiblyGeorgia.That"smallnumber" only asmallnumberofmountainouscountiesinnorthwest Zone 9areainDenmark(whichismostly8),Nova Georgia, andtheNorthCarolinaNationalHeritageProgram (NCNHP) due totheclimaticneedsofitsseedlings,itgrowsnativein is growingasmorepopulationsarediscovered.FredGalle's wide no-feeNationalParkalongridgesoftheAppalachian Scotia andBritishColumbia(Zone6)inthenorthtoLexing- leas linas Azaleas ton, SouthCarolina(Zone8)inthesouth.However,probably North Carolina.Begunin1935,theparkwaywasplanned says 11counties.TheNCNHPdatabasegivesthegeographic coordinates ofthepopulationsasshownbyredstarson Virginia totheGreatSmokyMountainsNationalPark in Mountains, extendingfromShenandoahNationalPark in Trail forcars."Muchmorethanjustaroad,theBlue Ridge R. vaseyi they drewtoshowthetreesandmajorshrubsberemoved the BlueRidgeParkway,sometimescalled"Appalachian Parkway isaunique81,000-acre,469-milelongby1/4-mile by landscapearchitectsbasedonmile-by-milediagrams are visiblefromtheroad.One ofthemorenotablesitesfora appreciate theviewsand 1,600plantspecieswithinits along theroad.Theroadalsohas275pavedoverlooks and and/or plantedtohelpguidevisitors'eyes1,200 vistas goes over151bridgesand through26tunnels.Partsofthe parkway aretraveledbyabout 20millionvisitorsperyearto variety ofwildflowers isMilepost437,at peakbloominlate borders. Mostoftheplants, 80percentofthemwildflowers, R. vaseyi Many ofthese [4] listssevencountiesinNorthCarolinaandone [3] listssixcounties,ClarenceTowe's [2] listsfourcounties, Distribution Map. List ofRarePlantSpeciesNorthCarolina is beinggrownwellingardensfromasmall R. vaseyi ♦ Distribution Three petals populations arevisiblealong The Azalean / Vascular FloraoftheCaro- American Aza- Fall 2009• [5] 67

Photo Don Hyatt June. of the diversity Dr. Larry Mellichamp of the University of North Car- and range of col- olina-Charlotte postulates that finding many of the known or in the flowers. R. vaseyi populations along roads is no accident (nor the One plant is pure result of lazy plant-hunters), but rather that many of these white with no populations are the direct result of clearing and disturbance sign of a blotch. of the soil as the roads were built. He goes on to say "Go R. vaseyi up there and dig some holes. We need another ice age to was reported to get disturbance and regeneration of southern balds. Perhaps be found near only every several dozen years do R. vaseyi seedlings get the junction of really established—when a combination of right conditions three trails on on occur —cool, wet all summer. Can you find any really young the north face of ♦ Pale pink and six petals plants? But they have to try every year—never know when Rabun Bald in the conditions will be good. Some of those plants up there northwest Georgia. Repeated attempts to verify this loca- may be as old as the parkway itself—got started when the tion have not been successful. The writers observed several roadside was cleared. Then landslides and fires help." [6] plants on the south face of which is in a Authorities generally agree that most of the native R. direct line of sight to Rabun Bald. vaseyi populations are found from around 3500 to 5500 feet One of the most attractive locations to appreciate a large elevation. As shown by the red stars on the R. vaseyi Distri- expanse of R. vaseyi is the north slope of Pilot Mountain. bution Map, they first appear along the Blue Ridge Parkway Starting at a trailhead accessible from Forest Service roads for a few miles at Milepost 305 near connecting to US 276 and SR 215, a moderate hike on the (off the map to the top right), then again near the Pisgah Inn Art Loeb Trail up Pilot Mountain gives stunning views of at Milepost 408 and extending to Beech Gap at Milepost 423 the , and passes through a magnificent where it intersects State Road 215, with a notable popula- colony of mature R. vaseyi. To make a visit even more enjoy- tion on Pilot Mountain a few miles due south of Milepost able, the local wildflower population explodes in cadence 418. They then sweep southwest along the Tanasee Ridge to with the azaleas. A carpet of Trillium vaseyi, T erectum, T Toxaway Mountain (above Sapphire, North Carolina) and undulatum, and T catesbaei surrounded by Umbrella Leaf beyond to Cashiers and Whiteside Mountain, and perhaps (Diphylleia cymosa) under a canopy of Magnolia fraseri and into northern Georgia at Rabun Bald. Buckeye (Aesculus spp.) fill in the few spots not covered by the soft pink abundance of R. vaseyi. Exploration Both known and likely R. vaseyi haunts are favorite tar- Notably, the type location of R. vaseyi, below Webster, gets for azalea enthusiasts in early spring, because of their North Carolina, is well to the west of most of the known beauty, diversity, and accessibility. Since the popularity of populations. This suggests a fruitful area for further explo- native American azaleas is on the upswing, there is little ration could be along the ridges between the type location doubt this exploration will stop, and there is little doubt that and the Cashiers area, including all of the area east to SR more populations and more diverse specimens of R. vaseyi 215. A local botanist, Richard Bryson, indicates at least one will be discovered. To join in, please contact the authors. large colony on Sassafras Mountain, [7] one of the peaks northwest of Toxaway Mountain. Access to this area is lim- ited due to a lack of roads, the terrain and private property John Brown is immediate Past President of the ASA. Bob boundaries. The population of R. vaseyi on Toxaway Moun- Stelloh previously served as ASA Treasurer; and is currently tain is the largest known contiguous colony, extending for very involved with the azaleas e-mail list and the ASA Web several miles along the north face of the mountain, accord- site. ing to Dick Bir and Richard Bryson. The population on Ta- nasee Ridge south of the Blue Ridge Parkway may well be References the second largest if it extends to the western slope of the Herbarium sheet, New York Botanic Garden, http:// ridge. www.pbase. com/image/1994566. A smaller population located on SR 107 just south of Ca- Galle, Fred, Azaleas, 1986. shiers has long been the subject of legend and controversy. Radford, A.E., Ahles, H.E., and Bell, C.R., Manual of The population is strung out along a creek bank and a swampy the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (1968). area at 3000 feet elevation, near the location of an extinct Towe, Clarence, American Azaleas, 2004. nursery. Urban legend says the R. vaseyi in the area escaped Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species from the nursery. A botanist old enough to have personal of North Carolina 2004, Misty A. Franklin, Ed., N.C. knowledge reports that the nursery took its R. vaseyi collec- Department of Environment and Natural Resources. tion from the local plants, which may be the southernmost tip [6] Mellichamp, Larry, personal communication. of the natural range. This population is interesting because [7] Bryson, Richard, personal communication.

68 • The Azalean / Fall 2009