R. macrophyllum flower comparisons
I have compiled a collection of R. macrophyllum flower photos in an album on flickr, which can be seen via this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ujelang/albums/72177720299414513/with/247233154/
This album shows the wide variations in R. macrophyllum flowers. In time I will make an album of pink rhododendron flowers that are not R. macrophyllum.
R. macrophyllum is seldom grown in gardens, and now seldom used by hybridizers. It has happened. However, any plant not found in the wild is there by human means; plants found in gardens, state park visitors' center parking lots, college campuses, 'wild' city parks, are all suspect.
Three books of interest:
Greer, Harold E., 1996. :Greer's Guidebook to Available Rhododendrons, species & hybrids" (can sometimes be found on Powells Books, Amazon, ebay.)
van Gelderen, D.M. and J.R.P. van Hoey Smith. 1992. "Rhododendron Portraits". Timber Press.
Nelson, Sonja (ed). 2001. "The Pacific Coast Rhododendron Story. The hybridizers, collectors and Gardens." Binford & Mort Publishing.
