{{Short description|Species of Rhododendron shrub}} {{Redirect|Rhodora}} {{Speciesbox | image = Różanecznik kanadyjski Rhododendron canadense RB.JPG | status = G5 | status_system = TNC | status_ref = <ref name="NatureServe">{{Cite NatureServe |date=20 August 2025 |id=2.128779 |title=''Rhododendron canadense'' |access-date=17 January 2026}}</ref> | genus = Rhododendron | species = canadense | authority = (L.) Torr. | synonyms = *''Azalea canadensis'' *''Rhodora canadensis'' }}

'''''Rhododendron canadense''''', the '''rhodora'''<ref>{{PLANTS|id=RHCA6|taxon=Rhododendron canadense|accessdate=21 October 2015}}</ref> or '''Canada rosebay''',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/rhododendron/canadense/ |title=''Rhododendron canadense'' |website=Go Botany |publisher=Native Plant Trust}}</ref> is a deciduous flowering shrub that is native to northeastern North America.

== Classification == Today's botanists consider the rhodora to be a distant relative of the other North American members of its genus, but the difference in floral structure did lead 19th century taxonomists to assign the plant its own genus ''Rhodora''. Its closest relative is ''Rhododendron vaseyi'' from the Appalachian Mountains, which differs in having seven stamens.{{clarify|date=March 2019|reason=Contradicted by next sentence}} DNA sequencing shows that ''R. vaseyi'' is not related to ''R. canadense'', but more to ''R. albrechtii''.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Rhododendronslægtens stamtræ; Blomstertaksonomi og evolution |url=http://www.rhododendron.dk/tree/STAMTRA5.JPG |pages=186–199 |first=Hans |last=Eiberg |encyclopedia=Rhododendron i Danmark i 25 år : Rhododendronforeningens jubilæumsskrift |editor1-first=Bjarne Leth |editor1-last=Nielsen |editor2-first=Steffen |editor2-last=Munck-Hansen |lang=Danish |date=1999 |publisher=Rhododendronforeningen |isbn=87-987381-0-0}}</ref>

== Description == It reaches a mature height of 0.5–1.2 m (approximately 1–3 feet). In early spring, it produces pinkish-purple flowers in clusters of 2–6 together; each flower is 2–3&nbsp;cm (approximately 1 inch) in diameter, with a five-lobed purple corolla. The flowers are unusual in comparison with other species of the genus ''Rhododendron'' found in northeastern North America. Most rhododendrons of the region have tubular flowers with 5 stamens each, while ''R. canadense'' has 10 stamens housed inside a zygomorphic corolla. The leaves open only after the flowers have bloomed and wilted; they are narrow oval, 2–6&nbsp;cm long and 1–2&nbsp;cm broad. When not in flower, it can still be identified by its peculiar, orange-brown seed cases, 1–1.2&nbsp;cm long.

== Distribution and habitat == [[File:Rhododendro canadense 046.jpg|thumb|left|''Rhododendron canadense'' (L.) Torrey. Tourbière du Lac-à-la-Tortue (fr), Quebec, Canada]] The wild distribution of the rhodora begins at its easternmost extreme in Canada in Newfoundland and extends into eastern Ontario and the United States, where it has its most famous home in New England and also occurs naturally in New York, New Jersey, and at high altitudes in the Appalachian Mountains further south to Pennsylvania. It thrives in the moist, acidic soils of bogs, swamps, and clearings in woodlands.

== Culture == For a long time, the species was regarded as a botanical icon of New England. The Transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, who spent his life in Concord, Massachusetts, paid homage to it in his poem "The Rhodora: On Being Asked Whence Is the Flower" (1834, published 1847). In this reflective lyric, the poet arrives at the epiphany that the beauty of the rhodora exists not only for its own sake but also discloses the mystical unity of all creation under God. The poet embraces this unity in his parting words to the rhodora: "The self-same Power that brought me there brought you". The composer Mary Lynn Lightfoot later set the poem to music in a song of the same name for a women's choir.

''Rhodora'' is also the name of the journal of the Harvard-affiliated New England Botanical Society, which is a peer reviewed scientific publication dedicated to the flora of North America.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://nymf.bbg.org/profile_species_tech.asp?id=383 Species description from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616102341/http://nymf.bbg.org/profile_species_tech.asp?id=383 |date=2006-06-16 }} * [http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/rhododendroncana.html Photos of rhodora flowers and foliage from the Connecticut Botanical Society] * [http://www.rosebay.org/chapterweb/nagt4.htm Information from the American Rhododendron Society Massachusetts Chapter] * [http://www.rwe.org/poems_of_RWE/The_Rhodora.htm Text of Emerson's "Rhodora"]

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Rhodora, The Category:Flora of Eastern Canada Category:Flora of Saint Pierre and Miquelon Category:Flora of the Northeastern United States Category:Plants described in 1762 canadense Category:Transcendentalism Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status