Several months ago, I was traveling from South Texas to the Ozark Mountains In Northwestern Arkansas. I stopped in Kountze, Texas and found some incredibly beautiful and rare plants and animals in the area! Here is what I found first....

Mountain Azalea (Rhododendron canescens)

While hunting for some rare trilliums in Eastern Texas, I found this mountain azalea (Rhododendron canescens) growing in the Big Thicket National Preserve. Also known as the Piedmont or southern pinxterbloom azalea, it’s a deciduous shrub of moist woods and streamside slopes. The flowers are usually a deep pink fading toward the tips, musky-sweet, and they open before or with the first leaves. I saw this one from a distance and while following a butterfly I was trying to get on camera, and ultimately failed. At least the azalea couldn't outrun me!