184 



American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 4 



I/2 inch long, with the margins rolled under; flowers borne in several- flowered 

 clusters at the ends of the branches, rose-red, deeply saucer-shaped to bowl- 

 shaped, 1/3 to y2 inch across, divided about i/^ into 5 spreading lobes; capsules 

 small, splitting from the top into 5 sections. 



Occurrence. — LASSEN: Summit Lake, 6,950 feet; Lassen Peak; Bumpas Hell trail; 

 Kings Creek Meadows. YOSEMITE, 9,000 to 12,000 feet: south side of Mount Conness; 

 Mount Lyell; base of Mount Clark; Vogelsang Pass; Mount Hoffman; Donohue 

 Pass; summit of Cloud's Rest. KINGS CANYON: above Reflection Lake; General Grant 

 Grove. SEQUOIA, 9,000 to 12,000 feet: Alta Peak; Heather Lake; Tocopah Falls; 

 west of Cyclone Meadow; Twin Lakes; Mount Whitney; Hockett Meadows; Little 

 Kern River. 



Kalmia (Kalmia L.) 



m 



Field Guide to the Species and Variety 



Plants 1 to 2|/2 feet high; leaves !/2 to l]/2 inches long; found in swamps or bogs 



1 . K. polifolia. 



Plants 3 to 8 inches high; leaves Y^ to Yl '"ch long; found in alpine meadows 



I a. Var. microphylla. 



1. Bog Kalmia, Swamp Laurel {Kalmia 

 polifolia Wang.), fig. 108. — A small, straggling 

 evergreen shrub, 1 to 2^/^ feet high; leaves oppo- 

 site each other on the stems, ^2 to 1^^ inches long, 

 shiny green above, whitish below, elliptic to ob- 

 long, the margins rolled under so that they appear 

 narrowly linear; flowers saucer-shaped, about I/2 

 inch across, purplish-red, borne several on slender 

 stems at the ends of the branches; fruits small 

 oblong to globose pods, splitting into 5 sections 

 from the top. 



Bog Kalmia is found growing in swamps or 

 bogs. The purplish-red, saucer-shaped flowers are 

 peculiar in that they have 10 small pockets on 

 the inside of the corolla in which the stamens 

 are fitted. When the flower is jostled or struck 

 lightly as by a bee, the stamens are released and 

 the body of the bee is dusted with pollen. The 

 bee then flies to another flower, leaving some 

 pollen, and thus making possible cross-fertiliza- 

 tion. A form from Mount Rainier with large 

 Fig. 108. Bog kalmia (Kal- flo^grs and long, narrow leaves has been de- 

 mia po ijo la). scribed as Kalmia occldentalis Small. 



Occurrence.. — OLYMPIC: Lost Lake. MOUNT rainier, occasional on the west side, 

 5,000 to 6,000 feel: swamp near road to Mowich Lake; Nisqually Valley. CRATER 

 LAKE, occasional, in the upper forests: 2 miles southwest of the Watchman; Castle- 

 ciest Garden; near park headquarters; near Annie Spring. LASSEN: King's Creek 

 Meadow where road crosses, 7,300 feet; Lassen Peak; Bumpas Hell trail. GLACIER, on 

 the west side, about 3,200 feel: Lake McDonald; sphagnum bog at John's Lake. ISLE 

 ROYALE, common in the bogs : Molt Island. 



