Also called great rhododendron or even great laurel, rosebay rhododendron may reach 40 feet in height and can possess a trunk 12 inches in diameter. It ranges from Nova Scotia southward to Georgia and Alabama. While it thrives best in the coves and along the streams of the Southern Appalachians, it can survive on drier, poorer, and higher sites, and is even found in raised areas in bogs and swamps.
Rosebay rhododendron tends to grow in dense thickets that exclude almost all sunlight from the forest floor, creating a perennial gloom in the maze of twisted, tangled stems. Mountaineers have labeled these all but impenetrable snarls of vegetation “hells” or “slicks.” This dense growth habit is the reason many foresters want to limit rosebay rhododendron to areas where high value is placed on aesthetics.
Ida No over 4 years ago
May want to be more careful of the seniors making out.
LastRoseofSummer Premium Member over 4 years ago
Maybe they are drinking something a little more potent.
crookedwolf Premium Member over 4 years ago
Sixth graders are okay, it’s teenagers you need to worry about..
Tentoes over 4 years ago
Knuckle sandwich: Ooh. Had a couple of those.
Mac.the.Knife Premium Member over 4 years ago
Wow, Mountain Dew and phone pranks! Those sixth graders are so cooool!
Alberta Oil Premium Member over 4 years ago
Kids start earlier now so more likely smoking.. or, learning about the birds and the bees
WCraft Premium Member over 4 years ago
Cue Nelson and pals to enter stage right…
Not the Smartest Man On the Planet -- Maybe Close Premium Member over 4 years ago
For some reason, I’m glad the phrase “knuckle sandwich” is still in vogue.
DCBakerEsq over 4 years ago
Where do the high schoolers hang?
daswaff over 4 years ago
Along the Blue Ridge, a large growth of Rhododendron is called a “hell”…
Grey Forest over 4 years ago
Great artwork today!
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 4 years ago
“A large growth of Rhododendron is called a “hell”.”
https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v25n2/v25n2-romoncier.htm
Also called great rhododendron or even great laurel, rosebay rhododendron may reach 40 feet in height and can possess a trunk 12 inches in diameter. It ranges from Nova Scotia southward to Georgia and Alabama. While it thrives best in the coves and along the streams of the Southern Appalachians, it can survive on drier, poorer, and higher sites, and is even found in raised areas in bogs and swamps.
Rosebay rhododendron tends to grow in dense thickets that exclude almost all sunlight from the forest floor, creating a perennial gloom in the maze of twisted, tangled stems. Mountaineers have labeled these all but impenetrable snarls of vegetation “hells” or “slicks.” This dense growth habit is the reason many foresters want to limit rosebay rhododendron to areas where high value is placed on aesthetics.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 4 years ago
Well done showing us just what such a rhododendron hell could look like.