Can anyone tell me what those trees are that I’ve seen in southwest France that look like nothing so much as massive rhododendrons? They have rhododendron-like leaves and flowers (white), but they grow to an impressive size – like a decent-sized oak, say. You see them in parks and whatnot.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it just might be a DUCK!
French Rhodendron
Um, not to be an ingrate, but that link isn’t all that helpful.
They are most likely…rhododendrons! Ta-da!
Rhododendron arboreum can grow up to 90’ tall. The smaller shrubs we’re used to seeing in gardens are usually bred for small size.
Just wanted to add that I’m always a bit wary of buying rhododendrons to put in because they can really get disproportionate to their surroundings even with the selection for a smaller footprint.
It could be a magnolia; the flowers are quite different, but Magnolia Grandiflora grows to be a large tree with glossy, Rhododendron-like leaves in that region. Or it could be a Rhododendron.
Thanks for the answers, all, though I’m not yet convinced it’s really a rhododendron. As regards Rhododendron arboreum, I found a site that says it can grow 10 or 20 metres high in its native Himalaya. The trees I’m talking about look to be routinely 20 meters tall, if not taller. I don’t think they’re magnolias either, because magnolias have very smooth, gray bark. The trees in question have fairly furrowed bark, dark brown in color.
Maybe this is what you are looking for:
[/URL=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=magnolia+tree&btnG=Search] Magnolia Tree
Does this provide the answer(s)?