This dense shrub/ small tree, native to
Southern Europe and Western Asia, is an evergreen specimen, growing up to
around 5m and can in some circumstances reach a height of around 8m. Its
evergreen leaves range from 6-18cm long and 2-5cm wide. Its flowers are purple,
3-5cm in diameter and often have small greenish-yellow spots or streaks. Its
fruit is a long dry capsule 1.5-2.5cm long, containing numerous small seeds.
Rhododendron ponticum is cultivated extensively
across Western Europe, used as an ornamental plant in its own right and also as
a root plant for other rhododendron sub-species. In some areas of Western
Europe and other countries like New Zealand, the plant is considered an
invasive species and has to be managed vigorously to conserve nature in those
areas. The specimen I have photographed is clearly competing well with other
shrubs and trees. It has been planted in a park in an ornamental arrangement
and appears to be thriving within a dense arrangement of other species
including buddlea davidii.
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