Frequently planted for dense evergreen hedging in gardens and shrubberies, and once common as game cover in shooting woodlands, but now mostly unwelcome for its tendency to spread and cast dense shade, harming native ground flora. Introduced 1576.

Native to eastern Europe, Balkans and North Africa.

Monoecious, hermaphrodite flowers. Insect-pollinated. Dispersed by birds and mammals. Often spreads by layering.

Small (15m), bushy and sprawling, usually wider than tall. Bark dark, finely rough. Twigs green and glossy at first, becoming brown and woody. Leaves large (15-20cm), oblanceolate, slightly convex, deep green, leathery, glossy and glabrous, finely serrate, with a pair of glands beneath near the base. Flowers dull white in racemes (7-12cm). Fruit a purple-black round-conical pome (13mm). Pontic Rhododendron differs: dull green entire-margined leaves, lilac-pink flowers.

Both foliage and fruits contain cyanide. Avoiding cutting trees without personal protection, while fruits are toxic if consumed in bulk.

Invasive and unwelcome in woodlands.

None.

Evergreen hedging where can be controlled.