The Joyful Botanist: Here grow pinkshells, far from the seashore
Pink azaleas are among many folks’ favorite native plants in Western North Carolina. Adam Bigelow photo
If you are driving or walking in the woods in the higher elevations of Western North Carolina at this time of year, you may be treated to the most beautiful explosion of deeply pink azalea flowers blooming in profusion all throughout the woods. And it’s not just any old azalea, but it’s a special and rare species that are often be taken for granted.
With an abundance of cultivated varieties of hybrid azaleas from other parts of the world that are used in most horticultural landscapes, the specialness and rareness of azaleas that are native to the Southern Appalachians can often go overlooked. I wonder how many visitors and residents of the Highlands Plateau know how incredible it is to have an abundance of pink blooms in those woods this time of year.
I know how special it is, because these pink blooms are the beautiful flowers of the pinkshell azalea (Rhododendron vaseyi), and they can only be found growing in the wild in the mountains of North Carolina and nowhere else in the world. Pinkshell azaleas are what we call a “narrow endemic” meaning that it only lives in a small geographical area. In this case, the small area is above 4,000 ft in elevation in North Carolina, and there’s not much above 4,000 ft here in Southern Appalachia. In fact, the natural range of this species includes only 11 of 100 counties in this state.
Luckily, the pinkshell azalea is being propagated and sold by native plant nurseries, including the wonderful Carolina Native Nursery in Burnsville, which grows all of the native rhododendrons and azaleas found in the Southeast. And they grow them from seed; not by cloning cuttings. I think that’s pretty special. You too can have a pinkshell azalea growing in your yard, no matter what elevation you are at in the mountains.
The large and beautiful pink blooms emerge before the plant’s leaves do, which gives a very stark look with seemingly dead twigs supporting big pink profusions of flowers. The appearance of the flowers is magical. The long and extended pistil and five to seven stamens stick out from the pink petals and nectar source in the center of the flower. This helps to ensure cross-pollination as the pollinating insects encounter the stigma of the pistil first, depositing any pollen they had picked up from the previous flower visit. The insects then encounter the stamens and pick up more pollen before getting their sweet nectar reward for all of their joyful work.
What insects are involved in pollinating pinkshell azaleas? Many large and smaller native bees are drawn to the sweet nectar azaleas produce, but they are not very efficient pollinators of the flowers. Even the largest bees are too small to encounter both the anthers to pick up pollen, and the pistils to deposit it. Butterflies, however, are large and don’t land when they are sipping nectar. They hover as they stick their long “tongue” called a proboscis way down to the nectaries to sip the sweetness.
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As they maintain their hovering flight, the butterfly’s wings inadvertently smack into the stamens and pistil, picking up and depositing pollen as they go, and they are very efficient at doing so. It is butterfly wing pollination that is responsible for the diversity and spread of these beautiful pink blooms.
Keep your eyes peeled as you’re driving or walking at the higher elevations, and you just might see some pinkshells for yourself. No beach trip is required.
(The Joyful Botanist leads weekly wildflower walks most Fridays and offers consultations and private group tours through Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
