Rhododendron albiflorum
White Rhododendron

Family: Ericaceae (Heath family)

Photo taken at Stevens Pass, open wooded slope near stream (5 to 15 meters away)

Flowers:

in axillary clusters of 1 to 4, white or off white; corolla 1.5 to 2 cm broad, shallowly campanulate, nearly regular; 10 stamens; gamopetalous

Leaves:

alternate; deciduous; blade 4 to 9 cm, elliptic-oblanceolate

Plant:

perennial shrub. Traditionally the wood was powdered, burned, mixed with grease and applied to swellings by the Okanagon and the Thompson.

Habitat:

stream banks to moist slopes, middle elevations to subalpine

Distribution of species:

British Columbia to Oregon in most higher mountains, east to western Montana

Distribution of genus:

more or less 1000 species: temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Australia