Satsuki or other species of azalea?

I have been looking around the net to id this azalea I collected from Tennessee and figured you guys may be able to help? My father n law said its at least 30 years old and has been hit with the bush hog a time or two. His father planted them on the Mtn. When he was a child. Any help would be awesome [img] image host[/img]

[img] upload images[/img]

Can't really tell without flowers but doubtful that it is Satsuki variety of Azalea. Is the plant deciduous?

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg019 is a University of Florida page on Azaleas, I would check with the local Agricultural University about what varieties of Azalea are commonly planted in Tenn.

Yes it is deciduous has been up on the mtn. for years and he said it flowered once already about 3 weeks ago.It seems to have lime green pods all over it?

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg019 is a University of Florida page on Azaleas, I would check with the local Agricultural University about what varieties of Azalea are commonly planted in Tenn.

Good thinking
thanks Billy

Satsuki are cultivated hybrids different from species that occur in the wild. Satsuki hybrids can vary wildly.

Many satsuki have leaves similar to the species Rhododendron indicum, which is the most important species in Satsuki hybrids.
Those leaves are narrow and a bit pointy.
This azalea does not have R.indicum type leaves. It has rounder leaves. Now there are also some satsuki with rounded leaves.

The fact that it already finished flowering 3 weeks ago is another strong hint that it isn't a satsuki hybrid.

I can't tell you what it is. It might be a hybrid with a bit of satsuki blood. Pictures of the flowers and pictures of the leaves in focus taken from above might help. IDing a cultivar is generally quite difficult and success often depends on how unique that particular cultivar is in the first place.
Knowing what is for sale there can be very helpful. But even when the actual cultivar name cannot be found, it is often possible to place it in a certain corner.

Now it doesn't really matter anyway if it is a satsuki or not. Japanese prefer satsuki for bonsai but that is mainly because part of the satsuki hobby developed into the satsuki bonsai hobby. There are still people who grow satsuki in the traditional way, purely to show off the flowers. Satsuki are bred for nice flower shape and colour variation. This in contrast with landscaping azalea who need to be dependable and flower with a lot of volume, creating completely coloured bushes. For this purpose the shape of the flower is irrelevant and the colour patterns get lost.

Btw you can remove the fruits.


This is an evergreen azalea (even if it in fact loses all leaves in the climate it is in).
The deciduous nature of this evergreen hybrid may be a hint at the species involved. Which may hint at the hybrid group it belongs to.

I agree, that's not one of the deciduous species/hybrids. Most importantly, without flowers we can't be of much help.

Thanks Glaucis and Russell i will get closeup pics and hold out for next yrs. Flowers and yes it drops leaves in fall.

I look forward to pictures. And there's a big difference between "dropping" leaves and having them blasted off.

But really it looks like a Kurume to me, and they can drop a lot of foliage in really cold weather.

Here is a pick before i lifted it.[img] upload images[/img][img] image hosting adult[/img]

Russell Coker wrote:But really it looks like a Kurume to me, and they can drop a lot of foliage in really cold weather.

I agree.

Here is a closeup of the leaves maybe it will help ?[img] image host[/img][img] adult image hosting[/img]

Definitely Kurume. Fat seed pods and lots of them, roundish leaf and messy dried up flowers. Ask your father if the flowers are white.

He said either pink or white but pretty sure white and yes pods everywhere.....

Maybe some mucronatum genes then as well. If this one has either that or yedoense var. poukhanense genes, which it might, it wouldn't be a full blooded kurume.

It is certainly kurume in the sense of non-satsuki. Those leaves don't remind me of kaempferi or kiusianum, but hybrids can do anything. Especially if the flowers and leaves aren't very small and indeed white, probably some mucronatum blood in there. Often used for large flowering hardy whites.

The largest leaf on it is 1/2"

My GUESS is 'snow'.

Awesome looks like we have it almost nailed down :)and now just wait f or flowers thanks once again