Probably the first to appreciate its beauty were the Cherokee Indians. They called it the ”Sky Paint Flower” because its colorful blooms could mimic a brilliant sunset. William Bartram wrote of the species in his 1791 book Travels:

“The epithet fiery I annex to this most celebrated species of azalea, as being expressive of the appearance of its flowers which are in general the colour of the finest red lead, orange, and bright gold, as well as yellow and cream colour; these various splendid colours are not only on separate plants, but frequently all the varieties and shades are seen in separate branches on the same plants; and the clusters of blossoms cover the shrub in such incredible profusion on the hillsides, that suddenly opening into view from dark shades, we are alarmed with the apprehension of the hill being set on fire. This is certainly the most gay and brilliant flowering shrub yet known...”

In late May of 2007, Dr. Hans Eiberg traveled to the Caucasus and Eastern Europe for two weeks to study some of the rhododendrons native to that area including R. caucasicum, R. smirnowii, R. ungernii, R. ponticum, and R. luteum. He has kindly allowed us to use some of his photos of R. luteum to show that even species we thought were uniform may have striking variations in the wild.

R. luteum is especially prolific on the Northeast coast of Turkey between 500 to 2500 meters in elevation (1600 to 8200 ft). Hans discovered some very rare forms near Kulakkaya including R. luteum 'Orange' and a bicolor form that was near white but with a gold blotch. Obviously, this deciduous azalea has a much greater color range than we have seen in the past. He has raised seedlings from the orange form which are also orange. Wide variability of plants in the wild is generally true so that is why a single representative of a species rarely enough in any collection.

The flowers of this species can range from white to pink with a contrasting yellow, gold, or even orange blotch. A major attraction is that the blossoms are extremely fragrant, too. There are certain populations along the California Coast where the flower variations are quite pronounced. I have seen darker pink blossoms opening from red buds, bicolor blossoms including picotee forms, and striking ruffled or frilled flowers. One of the best places to see such diversity is at Stagecoach Hill in the Humboldt Lagoons State Park north of Eureka, CA.

Most of the photos in this section were taken by me on several different trips to the West Coast. The plants I have seen in Yosemite were not as varied as those at Stagecoach Hill, and seemed to be shades of white to light pink with a gold blotch. I must admit that I have never been there when R. occidentale is at peak bloom. With so much other dramatic scenery, I was spending most of my time looking up at granite facades, roaring waterfalls, and towering redwood trees rather than looking down at the azaleas for evidence of spent blossoms or precocious flower buds.