With interest in this group rising in our region, we are constantly discovering new species and hybrids that can survive in our area. Rhododendrons, an Introduction 'Alisa Nicole' is an example of a Vireya Rhododendron. Most people think of Rhododendrons as those large-leaved evergreens with large, rounded trusses of white, pink, lilac or red flowers. However, with nearly 1000 species and over 30,000 hybrids, it's not surprising that this genus exhibits much variability. Their leaves may be a centimeter in length to over a meter.
Flower colours encompass the entire spectrum, except for a true blue.
Generally we think of Rhododendrons as being evergreen and Azaleas as deciduous, however, the difference between them is not so cut and dry. There are, in fact, deciduous Rhododendrons and evergreen Azaleas. In botanical terms, the flowers of typical Rhododendrons mostly have ten stamens while Azaleas generally have five, but even this difference is not hard and fast. Generally, the elepidotes are the 'standard' Rhododendrons with large leaves and flowers while the lepidotes are the so-called 'dwarf' Rhododendrons with small leaves and flowers. Again, the botanical difference is that the lepidotes have small to microscopic scales on the undersurface of their leaves while the leaves of the elepidotes are entirely scale-less.