CHAP. LXIX. 



£R1CA CEiE. KA'LMIA. 



1151 



gentle heat in a frame, or in a shady and moist part of a green-house, taking care that, as soon as the 

 plants begin to come up, they may be placed close to the glass to receive the direct influence of the 

 light, shading them, at the same time, from the sun's rays. The greatest care should be taken to 

 keep the temperature and moisture as equal as possible, and to expose the tender seedlings to the 

 morning and afternoon light ; but to exclude the mid-day sun. As soon as the plants have got two 

 or three leaves, they should be transplanted into other pans or pots, filled with the same kind of soil, 

 and shifted into pots of a larger size as soon as these are nearly filled with the roots. This process 

 may be continued for two or three years, when the plants will have attained the height of from 2 ft. 

 to 4 ft., accordingly as they have been kept in a higher or lower temperature. The azaleas may be 

 forced forward with the heat of a stove, so as to make two, or even three, shoots in a year ; but the 

 rhododendrons do not so readily admit of expeditious culture. Both rhododendrons and azaleas, 

 whether of the hardy or half-hardy species, force readily ; and, by that process, or retardation, may 

 be made to flower at any season of the year. 



Genus XXI. 



KA'LM/.^ L. The Kalmia. Lin. Si/st. Decandria Monogjnia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 545. ; Gsertn. Fruct, 1. p. 305. t. 63. ; Juss. Gen., 158.; Nutt. Gen. 



Amer., 1. p. 267. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 850. 

 Synonyme. American Laurel. 

 Derivation. Named by Linnjeus in honour of Peter Kalm, professor at Abo, in Sweden ; author of 



Travels in America in 1753. 



Description. Low evergreen shrubs, highly ornamental in their foliage and 

 flowers ; natives of North America ; of easy culture in peaty soil, and pro- 

 pagated by layers, seeds, or cuttings. 



• 1. K. LATiFo^LiA L. The broad-leaved Kalmia. 



rdentificntion. Lin. Sp., 560. ; Bigel. Med. Hot., p. 133. ; Pursh FI. Amer. Sept., l.p. 296. : Don's 



Mill., 3. p. 850. ; Lodd. Cat.,ed. 1836. 

 .Si/nimi/mcs. Mountain Laurel, Calico Bush, Calico Flower, Amer. 

 Eiigravings. Curt. Bot. Ma.g., t. 175.; Waiigh. Amer., t. 25. f. 50. ; Catesb. Car., 2. t. 98. ; Trew 



Ehrh., t. 38. f 1. ; Pluk. Mant., t. 379. f. 6.; and owx fig. 959 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves on long petioles, scattered, or .3 in a whorl, oval, 

 coriaceous, smooth, and green on both surfaces. Corymbs terminal, downy, 

 and viscid. {Don's Mill., iii. p. 8.50.) Flowers — ■ 



white, tinted with pale pink, delicately spotted. 

 A shrub, very elegant when in flower, growing 

 to the height of from 3 ft. to 10 ft. ; a native 

 of North America, from Canada to Carolina, 

 on the sides of stony hills. It was introduced 

 in 1734', and flowers in June and July. This 

 shrub, in its native soil, continues flowering 

 great part of the summer ; and, according to 

 Kalm, forms one of the greatest ornaments of 

 those parts of America where it is indigenous ; 

 and it is only in particular places where it 

 thrives ; though, according to Michaux, on f^ 

 the AUeghanies it occupies tracts of more 

 than 100 acres. These are generally rocky, 

 sterile, and near water. After it was intro- 

 duced into England, it was for several years 

 very unsuccessfully cultivated, till Mr, Peter CoUinson procured some 

 plants of it from Pennsylvania, where the climate being nearer to that 

 of England, than either that of Carolina or Virginia, the plants obtained 

 from it grew vigorously, and flowered in Mr. Catesby's garden at Fulham, 

 for the first time in England, in 1741. Leaves of this species are poisonous 

 to cattle and sheep, but not to deer. The wood is very hard, and is used 

 by the Indians for making spoons and other domestic utensils. Michaux 

 states that, of all the American woods, that of the Kalmin latifolia the 

 most nearly resembles the European box ; so that it might be probably 

 worth while to im[)ort it for the use of wood-engravers. 



4-G 



