rhododendra

English

Etymology

From Latin rhododendra, plural of rhododendron.

Noun

rhododendra

1. plural of rhododendron
   • 1836, “Adam’s Peak”, in Lieber, Francis, editor, Encyclopædia Americana: […], new edition, volume I, Philadelphia: Desilver, Thomas, & Co., page 54:

     The place is surrounded by venerable old trees, particularly rhododendra.

   • 1875, Last Leaves from the Journal of Julian Charles Young, A.M., Edinburgh, page 131:

     The southern front struck me as cold, bald, and inornate. I cannot but think that, in the absence of stone balustrades, the distinctive character of the terraces might have been just as well preserved by formally clipped yews, or, at all events, if a hedge of sweetbrier, or barberries, or privet had been substituted for the rude railing in front of the meadow. Neither would the slopes have looked worse had they been diversified here and there by a flowering shrub, or a straggling cotoneaster, or a small bed of rhododendra.

   • 1884, M. J. B. Baddeley, The Peak District of Derbyshire and Neighbouring Counties, page 66:

     From the highest point, where the main road sweeps round to the right to avoid a lateral depression, a rough by-road descends abruptly to the bottom of the Goyt Valley, which it reaches near Errwood House, a mansion whose striking situation reminds one of a Highland shooting lodge. The grounds are noted for their rhododendra.

   • 1970, History of the First World War, page 1308:

     By contrast Trabzon, a city of about 50,000 inhabitants, enjoys a mild climate, and more than adequate rainfall which does its part in encouraging the lavish growth of rhododendra along the whole Lazistan coast. […] Some forest remains in this region but the best forests were long ago cut down and the space filled with rhododendra.

   • 1994 March 19, Michael Yin, “Re: My Disillusionment with this Group”, in soc.culture.asian.american (Usenet), message-ID <2meei0$3m4@agate.berkeley.edu>:

     But anyways,the point is that 'cos say, Steph and I don't see culture in precisely the same way, that doesn't mean I should threaten to eat her poodle, or have her threaten to eat my prize-winning rhododendra.

   • 1995 April 26, “Re: Evergreens please”, in rec.gardens (Usenet), message-ID <3nkbpa$li3@ixnews3.ix.netcom.com>:

     > Camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons spring to mind. My camellia has / > just given me the most wonderful display yet, its been in there just / > 3 years - Needs acid soil and should be planted in shade which / > does not get morning sun though! / […] You might try cherry laurel, although not everyone would agree on beauty of blooms. Many varieties are available, and most seem to be more tolerant of sun and dry conditions than rhododendra.

   • 1996 December 5, Mark Buda, “The Gombril Shamir (40)”, in talk.bizarre (Usenet), message-ID <585b72$k0e@clarknet.clark.net>:

     Remove the rhododendra and all their foul kin from the windows of my temple, and shut them up in a bin. They are the enemy. All that is green must be vanquished. For I am the Gombril Shamir. The plants know me. They know my mission. And they will stop at nothing.

   • 2001 February 11, kelpie, “Re: Happy Birthday, Grinch! :P”, in alt.penpals.forty-plus-yrs (Usenet), message-ID <%CCh6.10376$zz4.258580@news2-win.server.ntlworld.com>:

     Snowdrops are out in the garden now and the clematis is starting to shoot, rhododendra are in bud so plenty of signs of spring.

   • 2001 July 19, Michael Liebmann, “Re: Rhododendron honey”, in rec.music.filk (Usenet), message-ID <6c255dae.0107191509.6f11588c@posting.google.com>:

     > I know what amanita is. Do I assume that Rhododendron honey has similar properties? / I know what rhododendra are, but what's an amanita?

   • 2001 August 13, Bob, “Re: Looking For Deer Repellant”, in alt.home.repair (Usenet), message-ID <a5d40a9d.0108131142.28b2ca2b@posting.google.com>:

     Next, open the container -- preferably FAR away from any enclosed area -- and add 2 tbsp garlic POWDER, 2 tbsp onion POWDER, and about 6 to 8 tbsp Tabasco sauce. Use the powders because you will eventually spray this mix through a garden sprayer, and minced onions REALLY gunk up the spray nozzles. To this mix add about 1/4 cup "Wilt-Pruf," which is a product used to keep rhododendra and cedars from losing moisture in dry conditions. This stuff is very $$$, but makes the mix stay on the plants longer, which seems to be very important.

   • 2001 October 28, John, “Re: Filters- for BW photography”, in rec.photo.darkroom (Usenet), message-ID <frumttk6tjs4hf5j2ve259fcqc86ncsal4@4ax.com>:

     >I personally don't find the green filter very useful here, although / >the desert can be very green in the summer time, during the rainly / >season.  / And that's when I use one in the Smokies myself. With all of the rhododendra around you need one !

   • 2003 March 29, Tom Keats, “Re: Hair”, in rec.bicycles.misc (Usenet), message-ID <i2k36b.8k.ln@bud.garden.local>:

     We get wet. Thoroughly, extrinsically and intrinsically wet. We're permeatedly and permanently soaked & sopped. If we spend too much time inland, we dehydrate, shrivel up like prunes, and long for the familiar clammy, enshrouding, mystical mists. / Scots actually seem to like it, here. So do rhododendra.

   • 2003 July 10, Cally Soukup, “Re: Where are real answers for new people?”, in alt.polyamory (Usenet), message-ID <bejlup$hqc$1@wheel2.two14.net>:

     > - Darkhawk, not flowering lately / Have you tried Miracid? It's good for rhododendra.... <ducking>

   • 2005 July 11, Franz Gnaedinger, “Re: origin of religion”, in soc.history.ancient (Usenet), message-ID <1121063675.072270.291800@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>:

     > An impressing story Franz, but lots of questions left. / > Do you think the Neanderthals used Edelweiss? / > Are there any felt hats found in a reliable Magdalenian / > context? / The Magdlenians, I guess, wore hats made of bear fur. As there are no more bears in the Bavarian forests but sheep on the pastures the Bavarians wear felt hats. I found no edelweiss on my list of glacial and postglacial relics in the flora of western Europe, but there always grew the alpine rose Rhododendron sardellii, already 100,000 years ago in France. That pretty shrub with lovely red blossoms may even be 60 million years old, whereas Toumai, Child of Hope, the earliest hominid known so far, is only seven million years old, so all the hominids and early humans might have adorned themselves with alpine roses or other small-flowered variants of rhododendra.

   • 2005 November 4, Brian Sharrock, “Re: The Myth Of "Suitcase Nukes."”, in alt.history.british (Usenet), message-ID <TxCaf.3730$lJ.3564@newsfe5-win.ntli.net>:

     _Hard_ water comes out of the taps here. Hard water buggars up the kettles, coffee makers, heating systems, steam irons, rhododendra (Blue Peters and Blue Admirals too; etc. etc. Still it doesn't take much experimentation to realise that graphite is superior to hard water in pencils.

   • 2006 October 6, Lesley Weston, “Re: Richard Hammond, was The best 1980s pop music”, in alt.fan.pratchett (Usenet), message-ID <C14C2E30.4F53A%brightly_coloured_blob@yahoo.co.uk>:

     > a quick call to the nearest garden centre.. I need some bags of manure / > to be delivered to my house at the weekend.. is that possible?.. not / > this weekend because for a weekend delivery you need at least a weeks / > notice?.. fine, can I have them next weekend then please?.. I can?.. / > thank you.. / "I also need some of those things... no, I don't know what they're called / but they're sort of... well it's difficult to describe. No, I don't know how / many I need until I've seen how big they are and what shape. Oh and do you have any rhododendra on special? Yes? Which ones? Can I trust you to pick out only the healthy ones for me? And delivery is *HOW* much? Ahahaha! Oh, you're not joking, that's real..."

   • 2014 January 9, Janet Wilder, “Re: North Dakota Oil Patch”, in rec.outdoors.rv-travel (Usenet), message-ID <52cf1a7e$0$10604$c3e8da3$33881b6a@news.astraweb.com>:

     The forests are old-growth hardwoods but in the Spring there are rhododendra, mountain laurel and other flowering plants that make the hike really special.

   • 2014 May 16, ppint. at pplay, “Re: Legality of harvesting wild plants”, in uk.media.radio.bbc-r4 (Usenet), message-ID <20140526.0931.14050141snz@i-m-t.demon.co.uk>:

     - are you usually this stupidly crass and infantile? / - "Wildlife and Countryside Act." / - which of your bowling green, putting green or allotment fall/falls under the heading of "Countryside" or "Wildlife" - or both? / - love, a ppint. as wonders whether the attempts to eliminate species running wild - not to say riot - such as rhododendra in parts of the lake district, and japanese knotweed everywhere, are then technically chargeable offences, ignored on grounds of "common" sense...