← Species guide
Rhododendron ponticum
High riskRhododendron ponticum
A Victorian garden shrub that has swallowed large parts of Clyne Valley and the Gower woodlands, turning ancient woodland floor into bare, dark, sterile ground.
How to identify it
- Dense evergreen shrub or small tree, often several metres across
- Thick leathery dark green leaves, paler underneath
- Showy purple-mauve trumpet flowers in late spring
- Nothing growing underneath it
Why it matters
- Total shade-out of woodland ground flora and tree regeneration
- Leaf litter is toxic and slow to break down
- Hosts Phytophthora ramorum, a pathogen that kills larch and other trees
How to control it
- Cut and treat stumps immediately with herbicide, or stem-inject standing bushes
- Grub out seedlings and layering stems while small
- Follow up for at least 5 years — regrowth is the norm
- Restore the canopy afterwards so the gap does not simply refill
