86 FLOWERS OF THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



this is easily distinguished the Dwarf Laurel of the lower hills and 

 plains, by its smaller plant and flower, and by the fact that its blos- 

 soms are produced below the ends of the branches. Our Pale 

 Laurel grows in peat-bogs and other swampy places, and differs 

 from both the others by flowering in the spring, and by having nar- 

 row leaves which are folded back along the edges and covered 

 on the under side with a white bloom or dust, whence the name, 

 Pale Laurel. The flower of the Laurel is unique, the corolla 

 not imperfectly resembling a saucer in shape. 



Kalmia is an American genus, though the Heath family, to 

 which it belongs, is famous in the Old World, especially in the Brit- 

 ish Isles, where the Heather, the favorite of the poets, often forms 

 no inconsiderable element in the beauty of otherwise barren moor- 

 lands. Its nearest relatives here are the Azalia, Rhodora, Blue- 

 berry, Cranberry, Huckleberry, etc., and some other like shrubs; 

 though it by no means bears so good a reputation as these last- 

 named useful plants. It has the name of being decidedly poison- 

 ous, and the Dwarf Laurel has a popular title, the Lambkill or 

 Sheep-Laurel, which indicates this. How well it deserves its bad 

 fame I know not. 



From time out of mind the poets have spoken of the Laurel as 

 the particular plant whose leaves make the victor's wreath. 



"The Laurel, meed of mighty conquerors, 

 And poets sage." 



But the Laurel of our hillsides and plains was never used to 

 crown poets or conquerors in ancient Greece and Rome. The plant 

 whose leaves were plaited into coronal wreaths, is the Sweet Bay, 

 or Noble Laurel, a tree-like shrub of Southern Europe. 



The name is from the Celtic laur, green, and refers to its 



