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THE RED AZALEA OF GEORGIA
A few miles southwest of Atlanta our attention was momentarily caught by a splash of brilliant orange in a woodlot not far from the road. Brakes were promptly applied and subsequent investigation revealed an assortment of plants, 2—3 ft. high, in oranges, orange-reds, salmons and strong pinks. Unlike our collections to this point, these flowers were distinct in being almost totally devoid of pin-head glands, just as the leaves seemed nearly hairless on their undersides. Only one Georgia azalea fits a description of this sort and that is “red-flowered” R. speciosum, the Oconee Azalea, which during the next day or so was pursued from here to north of Atlanta, across central Georgia to Augusta, and down the Savannah River to Clyo in the vicinity of its original place of discovery by Andre Michaux at Two Sisters Ferry. Not particular as to habitats in central Georgia, the Oconee Azalea is a rather confused species in this region. One can guess that it has been on too familiar terms with aggressive R. canescens for some time — with results becoming evident through individuals with large, salmon or strong pink flowers, with small red flowers with orange blotches or with variability in their possession of pin-head glands or leaf tomentum. Such variants thrive on level ground in warm, sunny places. On the Savannah River a more uniform Oconee Azalea remains an inhabitant of the fairly shady red clay bluffs of the west bank where specimens may be found in excellent deep Saturn red — a red of the Coastal Plain which is unlikely to fade under cultivation. At Two Sisters Ferry the present farm owner told me that he gave up the last ferry boat about thirty years ago. The old road to the river has long since grown up to brush but some aged orange-flowered specimens of R. speciosum still grow near the boat landing, just as Michaux saw and described them in 1787. This is a handsome azalea which has already become so scarce that protective measures might well be considered by those who love the wild plants of Georgia.
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