PLAJMTS i''L'KjSIlSllIi\C! MKDK J NAI. I.KAVKS AND IlKKDS. 



17 



MOUNTAIX LAUREL. 



Kalmia latifoUa L. 



Otlicr common navies. — Broad-leaved laurel, broad-leaved kalmia, American huiiol, 

 sheep laurel, rose laurel, spurge laurel, suiall laurel, wood laurel, kalmia, calico 

 bush, sjjoouwood, s])oou- 

 hiuit, ivy bush, big-leaved 

 ivy, wdcky, calmoun. 



Habitat and range. — The 

 mountain laurel is found 

 in sandy or rocky soil in 

 woods from New Bruns- 

 wick south to Ohio, Flor- 

 ida, and Louisiana. 



Description. — This is an 

 evergreen shrub fromabout 

 4 to 20 feet in height, with 

 leathery leaA-es, and when 

 in flower it is one of the 

 most beautiful and showy 

 of our native plants. It 

 has very stiff branches and 

 leathery oval or elliptical 

 leaves borne on stems, 

 mostly alternate, pointed 

 at both ends, with margins 

 entire, smooth and bright 

 green on both sides, and 

 having terminal, clammy- 

 hairy clusters of flowers, 

 which appear from about 

 May to June. The buds 

 are rather oddly shaped 

 and fluted, at first of a 

 deep rose color, expanding ^lo- 9.— Mountain laurel {Kalmia lafifolia).\e^\es and flowers, 



into saucer-shaped,. more delicately tinted, whitish-pink flowers. Each saucer-shaped 

 flower is provided with 10 pockets holding the anthers of the stamens, but from 

 which these free themselves elastically when the flower is fully exj^anded. (Fig. 9.) 

 The seed capsule is somewhat globular, the calyx and threadlike style remaining 

 attached until the capsules open. Mountain laurel, which belongs to the heath family 

 ( Ei'icaceaO, is poisonous to sheep and calves. 



Collection, prices, and uses. — The leaves, which bring about 3 to 4 cents a pound, 

 are collected in the fall. They are used for their astringent properties, 

 97225°— Bui. 219—11 3 



