112 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: MONTHLY BULLETIN 



The Mountain Laurel Native to the Allegheny mountain re- 

 gion are found a few very desirable broad-leaved evergreens, worthy 

 of general distribution and trial. At the head of the list undoubtedly 

 stands the Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), a rugged, spreading 

 species that makes a shapely, picturesque plant of great landscape 

 value. Its foliage is unusually clean, glossy and fresh-looking. The 

 hardiness of the Mountain Laurel is not to be questioned. In May 

 well-established plants are enveloped in a mass of bloom, at first a 

 deep pink and later turning white, that persists for many days. 

 The Mountain Laurel grows naturally in various parts of Ohio and 

 has been under observation at the Experiment Station for quite a 

 number of years. The plant appears at its best when grown in the 

 mass, and for colonizing in shaded cemeteries, along the north side 

 of buildings or in open groves it has no real rival. Probably the 

 nearest approach to it in points of excellence is Rhododendron 

 catawbiense, another native of the Alleghenies, which has also been 

 grown at the Experiment Station for a considerable period. This 

 species is a handsome, dark green plant growing 3 to 6 feet 

 high, that bears rather freely masses of flowers in a somewhat 

 trying shade of magneta, or dull, light purple. For those who wish 

 to make beds and masses of entirely hardy rhododendron, R. cataw- 

 biense, should be given the preference over all others. 



The Great Laurel (Rhododendron maximum), of the Allegheny 

 region, is a larger species than either of the foregoing, often reach- 

 ing a height of 20 feet, which flowers later in the season, generally 

 near the end of June. Several plantings of this rhododendron have 

 been a subject of study at the Ohio Station for a reasonably 

 long time, under conditions thought almost exactly to supply their 

 natural requirements. The outcome has not been entirely satis- 

 factory, probably because the plantings were made with large 

 plants collected in the mountains at somewhat too late a time in the 

 season. These plants were not located in their permanent beds 

 until the middle of June. Experience derived from this venture 

 seems to indicate that it is safer to procure thrifty young nursery- 

 grown .stock than to place reliance on over-grown plants brought in 

 from the wild. 



Other varieties. Two other broad-leaved evergreens which 

 have done well at the Ohio Station are Mahonia aquifolia and 

 Mountain Fetter-bush (Andromeda floribunda) . The Mahonia has 

 good foliage quite similar to that of holly, making a plant 3 to 5 

 feet high that is rather spreading in outline. Numerous small 

 yellow blossoms borne closely to the stems are succeeded in autumn 

 by conspicuous blue berries. The Mahonia is an excellent thing 



