User talk:Indigosnake

common names for Rhododendron canescens
You gave no references for the common names added for Rhododendron canescens. Even though it is often still seen for R. canescens, the name mountain azalea is a misnomer from when the high elevation R. prinophyllum was confused by Frederick Pursh with André Michaux's R. canescens, an azalea of the lower elevation Piedmont and Coastal Plain of the eastern USA. One will not find R. canescens growing indigenously in the mountains, only up to the foothills.

Dead man's handkerchief is a new one for me. What is the etymology for this? Do you have a source for this? There must be an interesting story behind it. I have studied the literature of deciduous azaleas for more than 30 years and have never come across this common name. I have found this species called the downy az., hoary az., wooly az., Florida az., Florida pinxter, mountain az. (confused with R. prinophyllum), Piedmont az., southern pinxter, southern pinxterbloom az., sweet az., wild az., and wild honeysuckle.

Perhaps the most unusual common name comes from John James Audubon. Audubon included the plant which from his illustration is probably R. canescens (although he labeled it Azalea nudiflora) along with three species of finches on table 398 of his Birds of America (1827-38). He called this American azalea plant liberty bush.

By far the most often seen and most appropriate common name is the Piedmont azalea, for it is the most common native azalea in the Piedmont of the USA. The azalea is found from southern North Carolina to Florida and west to Arkansas and eastern Texas.

Charles Andrews

president

Azaleas Society of America. Ghotimykiss (talk) 00:44, 18 March 2024 (UTC)