NC S709

Designates the rhododendron as the official state shrub of North Carolina by adding § 145-52 to the General Statutes.

Appropriates $10,000 in nonrecurring funds to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources for the 2020-2021 fiscal year to promote the rhododendron as the state shrub.

Recognizes rhododendron as native to North Carolina, thriving on hillsides and slopes from the mountains to the Piedmont, with blooms in white, pink, red, and purple from late spring to late summer.

Notes that Roan Mountain contains 600 acres of naturally occurring Catawba rhododendron, making it the largest rhododendron garden in the world, and that Bakersville has held the North Carolina Rhododendron Festival annually since 1952.

Becomes effective July 1, 2020.