This beautiful native shrub blooms before its leaves emerge in spring, hence its former Latin name, R. nudiflorum. Thomas Jefferson first noted “Wild honeysuckle” among the native flowers blooming at Shadwell in spring of 1766. He would later list the “Upright honeysuckle. Azalea nudiflora” as an ornamental native shrub in his only published book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1781). Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania gave it the name “pinxter” because it blooms at the church festival of Pentecost (“Pingster”) or Whitsuntide. The fragrant flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies.