A genus of shrubs or small trees, often having handsome evergreen leaves, and remarkable for the beauty of their flowers; rosebay.
                                                            
                                                     
                        
                                                
                        
                        
                            any shrub of the genus Rhododendron: evergreen shrubs or small shrubby trees having leathery leaves and showy clusters of campanulate (bell-shaped) flowers 
                                                            
                                                     
                        
                                                
                        
                        
                            Genus of shrubs in the Ericaceae family (from Greek rhodo meaning rose and dendron meaning tree). In common usage, "rhododendron" usually refers to members of the subgenera Rhododendron and Hymenanthes, as distinct from the azaleas.