During July the thickets at lower elevations come into their own with the pinkish-white flowers of the rosebay rhododendron, by far more common in the park than the catawba rhododendron.
Elevation and latitude crosscut to form mazes of high-altitude grasslands, chilly black-green conifer forests, temperate rhododendron thickets, and subtropical lowland savannas.
To the northward, in Humboldt and the adjacent counties, whole hillsides are covered with rhododendron, making a glorious melody of bee-bloom in the spring.
It is closely related to the rhododendrons, is very showy and fragrant, and everybody must like it not only for itself but for the shady alders and willows, ferny meadows, and living water associated with it.