See text Rhodora was a section of subgenus Pentanthera in the genus Rhododendron, that has since been discontinued.

Pentanthera being joined into a single three-lipped lobe in sect.

Treating it as such though resulted in the remainder of the genus Rhododendron being paraphyletic.

However detailed phylogenetic analysis revealed that Rhodora was not a distinct entity, but rather polyphyletic, and it was disassembled, each species being allocated to other sections.

[1] It comprised two species, both deciduous shrubs native to eastern North America: