Pacific Rhododendron

Pacific rhododendron is the large evergreen shrub that fills the understory of lower and middle-elevation forests with rounded clusters of pink flowers from late spring into early summer. It is Washington’s state flower, and plant breeders have used it to develop many garden rhododendrons. In Oregon it is most common in the Coast Range and in the Cascades west of the crest, and Forest Service plant community guides for Mt. Hood National Forest count it among the important understory plants in western hemlock forests and in Pacific silver fir forests.

How it looks depends on light. In openings, along forest edges and on ridgetops it grows into dense, compact thickets, while in deep shade it becomes taller and more open, almost like a small tree. It handles shade well and often grows on ridges and slopes with shallow, rocky soil. Fire usually kills the stems, but the plant sprouts again from its root crown, often within a year, and the sprouts can quickly fill burned or logged openings. Bees do most of the pollinating, with help from other insects and occasionally birds. Few animals eat it because the whole plant is toxic, though mountain beavers in the western Cascades are known to feed on it.