R. canescens, the Florida Pinxter or Piedmont Azalea, is often confused with R. periclymenoides. Both are medium deciduous azaleas that are found in the Carolinas but can be separated by the flower tubes, which in R. periclymenoides are fuzzy. R. canescens also has tiny hairs, but they are sticky and glandular. Another noticeable difference is that when a flower of R. periclymenoides dies, a ridge on the corolla tube tends to catch on the end of the pistil so that a flower cluster past its prime consists of several dangling blossoms. Although widespread in the eastern half of the U.S., these two wild azaleas differ in distribution. In South Carolina, for example, R. periclymenoides is a Piedmont plant, with almost no specimens reported from the Sandhills or Coastal plain, while R. canescens is predominantly a Low Country plant absent from the Piedmont, except in counties that border the Savannah River. In general, if it grows wild north of South Carolina, it's likely R. periclymenoides; south of the Palmetto State and it's probably R. canescens. Both species prefer moist, humus-laden, acidic soil but seem to do equally well in shade or sun. Old specimens can reach heights of 12-15 feet and have multiple stems or trunks up to 5" in diameter. Deciduous rhododendrons are propagated by seed, grafting or cutting. Deciduous azaleas are very tricky to propagate from cuttings. Tissue culture is used to propagate varieties that are difficult to root. It is a laboratory technique that is very successful. Take cuttings of deciduous azaleas when the new growth is soft and pliant. This is often coincident with time of bloom in early June. The ability to root decreases rapidly as new growth matures. Select cuttings daily for best results. Trim cuttings below a node (overall length of cuttings 3 to 5 inches) and dip in a root hormone containing fungicide. Insert in a medium of 60% peat moss and 40% horticultural perlite. Usually bottom warmth of 75°F is used to encourage root growth. In late August, transplant cuttings that are rooted and grow on in the greenhouse with supplementary light (14-hours a day) to prevent dormancy and induce new growth. In the fall after new growth has matured, transfer to a cool, frost-free cool (35°F to 41°F) environment to induce dormancy. As new growth develops in the spring, transfer plants to a shaded environment. [after "Rhododendrons and Azaleas" by J. Lounsbery, Horticultural Research Institute of Ontario, Canada]

I noticed only one link to propagation by seed on the USDA database link. http://www.nativeplantnetwork.org/network/ViewProtocols.aspx?ProtocolID=686 Below is a link to the Sacramento chapter of the CA native plant society. If you scroll down the page slightly more than half way, you will see a contact listed with a telephone number. Perhaps they can help. Here is a link that might be useful: propagation

Take cuttings of firm new growth... apply 0.1% IBA (Rooting hormone) stick in well drained soil & mist takes 30-70 days to root & bottom heat will help.

Actually you don't stratify azalea seed, you sow it fresh. Seed pods are ripe when they're turning mostly brown and the tips of the pod are starting to separate. Around here they're ripe in mid to late November, but you can get seed that hasn't blown out of opened pods into January. Some native species are relatively easy to grow from cuttings (easiest is R. austrinum, usually about 50% take), and some are just about impossible (0% success on R. alabamense and R. vaseyi so far) -- for me, anyway. But all are easy to grow from seed if you use the right method, and get as big as a cutting the first year. I'll post complete directions for sowing in the next few days. I'd do it now but I'm wasted. Did an installation today (yeah, working 7 days a week) and the ground was so dry and hard it took a pickaxe to make a hole for a 1 gallon pot. The tree roots and rocks didn't help, of course. Guy who was helping me runs a trencher for laying waterlines during the week and he said the ground is dry as powder 12 feet down. Last meaningful precipitation we had in this neck of the woods was Katrina 7 weeks ago. Pray for rain! Marty