Distribution: Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Alberta, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
Habitat: Forest understory and edges from middle elevations to the subalpine.
Flowers: April-June
Origin: Native
Growth Duration: Perennial
Conservation Status: Not of concern
Pollination: Bumblebees, bees, flies, beetles, moths, hummingbirds, sawflies
Thicket-forming deciduous shrubs, erect, 1-2 m, branching, unpleasantly scented when bruised, older bark shredding or glabrous, twigs finely hairy.
Leaves alternate, bright green but lighter beneath, generally elliptic to obovate, apex acute, 3-6 cm long, both sides of leave somewhat glandular or hairy, margins entire and glandular, petioles 2-4 mm, often clustered towards ends of branches.
Flowers clustered terminally, appearing with leaves; peduncles 1-2 cm, glandular to hairy; calyx 0.5-1 mm, 4-lobed, margins irregular and glandular; corolla greenish or yellowish red or bronze, 6-10 mm long and 5 mm broad, 4-lobed, lobes 1.5 mm; stamens 8, filaments somewhat flat, slender and tapering with hairs near base, anthers linear; ovary glandular, globose.
Capsules ovoid to ovoid-oblong, 5-8 mm, glabrous to sparsely glandular or pubescent.
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Rhododendron menziesii in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
WA Flora Checklist: Rhododendron menziesii checklist entry
OregonFlora: Rhododendron menziesii information
E-Flora BC: Rhododendron menziesii atlas page
CalPhotos: Rhododendron menziesii photos