My Red Maple Swamp
At the end of my street in the Capital District of New York, there is a beautiful red maple swamp. Even though I don’t own it I think of it as mine because I probably venture into in more often than anyone in the neighborhood. Red maple swamps are some of my favorite places because of the variety of plants and the beauty of the mosaic of plants and water. Here are some photos of the plants I saw today between the thunderstorms.
One of the first plants I noticed was the early azalea, Rhododendron prinophyllum, not only the flowers but the fragrance!
Early azalea in the swamp
Closeup of the flowers
Here you can see the glandular hairs on the flower tube.
The vegetation was so lush after the rain.
Dominants include skunk cabbage and sensitive fern.
Pools of water provide great reflections.
The rain caused the starflowers to reveal their undersides.
Royal fern spore leaves glistened with raindrops.
Ill be back soon! – Steve Young
Explore posts in the same categories: Ecology, Field Trips
New York Flora Association Blog 
May 11, 2010 at 12:16 am
The mountain azalea is another common name for this plant. It is also Rhododendron prinophyllum (used to be R. roseum). Looks like pinkster but much more fragrant and it has the glandular hairs on the flower tubes where pinkster has non-glandular hairs.
May 10, 2010 at 7:44 am
A neighborhood treasure trove! Beautiful photos of beautiful plants. There’s a bright pink, VERY fragrant azalea that grows along the Hudson at Moreau that looks very similar to yours. The undersides of its leaves are hairy all over, so I’ve been calling it Hoary or Mountain Azalea (as per Newcomb’s description). Your post reminds me to get out there on the river and enjoy its exquisite fragrance.