 "Rhododendron catawbiense" belongs to the "Subgenus Hymenanthes", within which it is further assigned to "Section Ponticum" and "Subsection Pontica".The latter — one of the 24 subsections of "Ponticum" — also contains about a dozen other species.The taxonomy has been confused by a tendency to group all large leaved Rhododendrons under the catch-all "R. catawbiense".