FNPS Plant Database

Rhododendron viscosum

swamp azalea
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Eleanor Dietrich, Magnolia Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

swamp azalea

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Rhododendron viscosum

Family:

Ericaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

shrub

Size:

5-15 ft tall by to 12 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

white,pink

Fruit Color:

Phenology:

deciduous

Noted For:

Showy Flowers, Aroma/Showy Fruitsagrance

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Specimen plant for moist shady areas. Shady rain gardens.

Considerations:

Availability:

Native Nurseries, Seed

Propagation:

Root cuttings, layering, seed.

Light:

Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry

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Stays wet -to- Somewhat moist, no flooding

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand, Organic

Soil pH:

Highly acidic to acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.

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Vouchered In:

Distribution
Vouchered
Not vouchered
Selected
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Starting…
Map coded by Melissa Fernandez-de Cespedes (Paynes Prairie Chapter)

Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators, Hummingbirds



  • Attracts pollinators especially bumble bees.


  • Attracts butterflies.


Attracts  hummingbirds.

Native Habitats:

Moist-wet sites. Seep swamps, pineland-wetland ecotones, edges of bay swamps, moist woods.

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

Poisonous if eaten.

General Comments:

The most aromatic of the azaleas. That last of the azaleas to bloom--in Florida May to June. Flowers are sticky--hence the name R. viscosum.
FNPS Plant Print

Citations:

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. (Undated). Plant Database: Rhododendron viscosum (Swamp azalea). ( https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=rhvi2 ). Accessed 2026. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.


Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. (1999+). Atlas of Florida Plants. ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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