We think of rhododendrons and azaleas as being from cooler and moister climates. After all, that is where they do best. Yet, there does happen to be a native western azalea, Rhododendron occidentale, that lives in the Sierra Nevada and coastal ranges from San Diego County to just southwest of Portland, Oregon. (Azalea and Rhododendron are varied specie of the same genus.)
Bloom is mostly white, with pink, pale yellow or golden orange. Some of the fancier garden varieties bloom clear white, or with more vibrant color. The lightly fragrant, two inch wide flowers bloom in groups of two or three on open conical trusses. Each truss produces as many as a dozen flowers in sequence, so a new flower replaces a fading flower for a bit more than a week each spring.
Western azaleas plants are unfortunately not much to look at after bloom. They grow somewhat slowly and irregularly to about three to five feet tall. The two or three inch long deciduous leaves that can turn yellow and orange where autumn is cooler are more likely to turn an unimpressive grayish brown here. Foliage can fade prematurely if the weather gets too hot and arid through summer.
Tony Tomeo 
That is really interesting. I never knew they were native in the west.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The are even native here in isolated colonies in Santa Cruz County, but are certainly not common. They are not one of our trendy natives, probably because they do not look like chaparral plants.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting! I didn’t know there are western azaleas. I just discovered there are east coast native azaleas!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, yes, they must come from somewhere. I have seen them as well as western rhododendron growing in the wild near here. Both are unpopular with those who like natives because they do not fit in with the trendy notion that all California native plants are native to chaparral regions.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Tony Tomeo and commented:
Due to an inability to locate some of my old articles from nine years ago, I will recycle articles such as this, which already posted to this blog four years ago, through June and at least part of July.
LikeLike
I suspect not many people know that azalea and rhododendron refer to the same genus.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Actually, I have difficulty with the common names. Although I know that they are all of the same genus, I do not know which are rhododendrons and which are azeleas, and some use both names.
LikeLike