All azaleas are part of the rhododendron family. This particular variety is orange in color and has an unusually shaped flower. I first experienced these in the UNCC Gardens and was overwhelmed by their huge, sweet fragrance, which reminds me of honeysuckle. The bloom too looks like a honeysuckle except that it grows in a hand shape on a fairly thin tree. I don't have any of these yet, but am working on it. I've heard from someone that it might be endangered, even though it is a local native.

Great news from this weekend. The Dutchman Creek Nursery in Rock Hill, South Carolina, carries R. austrinum, R. atlanticum, and R. nudiflora, all of which are fragrant, native, and deciduous. This is actually just the weekend and evening hobby of John Williams until he retires to it full-time from being a police officer. His nursery is quite difficult to find, but he gives good directions. His contact telephone number is 803.329.0059. He wouldn't actually give me any of these species this weekend, since he had just set out new cuttings and wasn't certain that they'd survive, but he promises to have them ready by this fall.

	The image from the last page. This is the Escatawpa variety. Image from the Virtual Rhododendron Garden.
	Another bloom, from another angle. Image from the Virtual Rhododendron Garden.
	Several blooms from a non-Escatawpa, less peach-colored variety. Image from the Albion College Vascular Plant Image Gallery.
	Many blooms. Image from the Albion College Vascular Plant Image Gallery.
	The whole Escatawpa bush. Image from the Virtual Rhododendron Garden.