1 84 KALMIA ANGUSTIFOLIA. DWARF LAUREL. 



the tincture of Kalmia angtistifolia is so powerful that " a few 

 drops killed a ratdesnake." Elliott, the author of a botany of 

 South Carolina, says that the negroes of that State use a wash of 

 the leaves of this species to cure minute parasites on dogs. Dr. 

 F. Peyre Porcher, in his " Resources of the Southern Fields and 

 Forests," quotes Dr. Torrey for the statement that " the leaves 

 of the Kalmia [angitstifolia) exude a sweet, honey-like juice, 

 which is said when swallowed to bring on a mental intoxication 

 both formidable in its symptoms and long in its duration ;" but, 

 except the fact that it exudes a honey-like juice, Dr. Torrey 

 seems to report only what " is said " of it. 



In general, there is a remarkable uniformity in the color of the 

 flowers of this species, though in Kalmia latifolia there are num- 

 berless shades. Willdenow says, however, that it varies with red 

 and with drooping flowers — '' rubris et ccrmiis T — but this is 

 probably one of those errors not unfrequendy found in the 

 most carefully edited works. The " Botanical Magazine," figur- 

 ing the plant in 1796, notes that there was then a pale variety 

 in cultivadon as well as the one with deep red flowers, so that 

 flesh-colored and not drooping was probably what Willdenow 

 intended to say. This variation must, however, have been in a 

 special case, as it is probably rarely seen in nature. 



In regard to its geographical distribution and peculiar loca- 

 tions. Dr. Gray says, in his " Synoptical Flora of North Amer- 

 ica," that it o-rows on " Hill-sides from Newfoundland and Hud- 

 son's Bay to the upper part of Georgia ;" but though often found 

 on dry hill-sides, and at considerable elevations, it is one of the 

 commonest of plants on the low sandy levels of New Jersey, and 

 in similar places in other States. It extends beyond the Alle- 

 ghanies into central Ohio and up into Southern Michigan. 



In Pennsylvania, from whence the specimen for our illustra- 

 tion was taken, it flowers in June. This seems the date fixed 

 for it by most authors ; but in South Carolina, according to 

 Elliott, it is in bloom in April. 



