ERICACEAE HEATH FAMILY 



MOUNTAIN LAUREL. KALMIA 



Kdlmia latifblia. 



Kalmia commemorates the labors of Peter Kalm, a friend and pu- 

 pil of Linnaeus, who travelled in eastern North America in 1753- 



In the north a broad dense shrub five to ten feet high with many 

 crooked branches and a round compact head ; only becoming a tree 

 on the mountains of North and South Carolina. Ranges from Can- 

 ada to the Gulf along the highlands and mountains, and westward to 

 Arkansas. It is tolerant of many locations, loves swamp land or 

 dry slopes at the borders of the forest, will climb the mountain-side 

 to an elevation of three thousand feet or more ; does not flourish in 

 a limestone country. Roots fibrous, matted. Easily cultivated. 



Bark. Dark brown tinged with red, furrowed and scaly. Branch- 

 lets at first light reddish green, downy, later smooth, red green and 

 shining, finally all a bright red brown. 



Wood. Brown tinged with red ; heavy, hard, rather brittle, close- 

 grained. Sp. gr., 0.7160; weight of cu. ft., 44.62 Ibs. 



Winter Buds. Leaf-buds naked, forming in midsummer in the 

 axils of leaves just below those from which the clusters of flower-buds 

 are produced by which they are almost covered. The tip of the 

 branch dies when these axillary buds are formed. Inner scales en- 

 large with the growing shoot, becoming an inch long before falling. 



Leaves. Alternate, or in pairs, or in threes, simple, persistent, 

 oblong, three to four inches long, one to one and a half inches wide, 

 wedge-shaped at base, entire, acute or rounded at apex and tipped 

 with a callous point. They come out of the bud conduplicate ; each 

 leaf enclosed by the one directly below it, slightly tinged with pink 

 and covered with glandular white hairs, when full grown are thick 

 and rigid, dark shining green above, pale yellow green beneath; 

 midrib broad, yellow, rounded above and below, veins obscure, 



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