Large evergreen shrubs or small trees blooming in mid-summer with white flushed pink to rose-purple or rarely white flowers, usually with greenish flecks. The leaves can be up to one foot in length and are covered with an attractive whitish indumentum when they first emerge. Quite cold and heat resistant and tolerant of extremely heavy shade. Occurs in deciduous or coniferous woodlands from 1,000 to 5,500 ft. A common species from the province of Nova Scotia, Canada south to the states of Georgia and Alabama, USA.
1975/137 'Mt. Mitchell' GAB (-25\R1\6). Deep magenta flowers with gold-green flecks on this famous clone with red flushed leaves and petioles.
1977/350 WWES (-25).
1977/564 SHW:VAN (-20). Flowers with a white center, rose lobes and green flecks.
1977/646 ‘Leach’s Mount Mitchell’ Leach (-25\R1\6). This is a clone selected by David Leach that is very similar to the widely grown ‘Mount Mitchell’ with reddish pigment in the stems, leaves and flowers.
1980/011 Clarence Towe (-25). Pink flowered form collected wild in S Carolina.
1983/192 'Compactum' GLM (-25). Dwarf form with yellow-pink flowers.
1989/023 'Red Max' Hill (-25\R1\6). This is a clone we received from Polly Hill as “an especially good flower and form.”
1998/708 RING (-25\R1\6). A selection from the wild by George Ring of a “multi-bud form” with many more pale pink flowers than normal on this species. A very limited supply of grafted plants of this special selection.
1990sd001 grown from seed collected at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania.
1995sd301 95ARS#404:RSBG (-25\R1\6). Grown from seed collected wild in Clay Co, NC from a “red-flowered form.”
1995sd308 95ARS#405:RSBG (-25\R1\6). Grown from seed collected at 3,500 ft. on Mt. Mitchell, N. C. from a “red form.” Hardy and vigorous.
1995sd316 95ARS#409:RSBG (-25\R1\6). Grown from seed collected from the only surviving “red max” in the wild.
1995sd318 95ARS#410:RSBG (-25\R1\6). Grown from seed collected wild at 2,900 ft. on Bent Mountain, Georgia from a plant with white flowers and extremely blue-green foliage.
1995sd335 ARS#95-400 (-25\R1\6). Grown from seed collected in Jackson Co. N.C. from a plant with variegated foliage. Deep magenta flowers with gold-green flecks on this famous clone with red flushed leaves and petioles.
1996sd198 RING (-25\R1\6). Grown from seed collected from a “multibud” form of this summer-blooming species. White flushed pink flowers, quite heat and cold hardy.
1996sd568 96ARS#336:RSBG (-25\R1\6). Tough and hardy species with white to white flushed pink or rose flowers in mid-summer. A large-growing vigorous plant. Tolerant of extreme conditions. Grown from seed collected wild near Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Shade tolerant.
1996sd577 96ARS#335:RSBG (-25\R1\6). Grown from seed collected wild on Bent Mountain, Georgia from a plant with blush flowers in multiple terminal buds.
1997sd233 RSBG (-25\R1\6). See 1996sd568. Grown from seed collected wild at 1,500 ft. on Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania.
1999sd168 SEH#1015:RSBG (-25\R1\6). Hardy, tough and adaptable large shrubs with white to rose-purple flowers in mid-summer. The large leaves have a thin indumentum on the lower surface. Grown from my collection of seed in the mountains of W North Carolina from a population (4,850 ft.) with a good dark indumentum. Shade, heat and cold-tolerant. Attractive new growth.
1999sd173 SEH#1020:RSBG (-25\R1\6). As for 1999sd168 but from the highest population located (5,500 ft.).
