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

fan-shaped leaves straight from the ground

acid soil with steady moisture and a bit of irrigation through dry spells

thriving in the heat and lean soils of a xeric or Mediterranean-style garden

far larger and paler than the deep maroon bells of the common pawpaw

brushing off heat

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