pink WILD FLOWERS 



travelled in this country. The Mountain Laurel 

 blossoms during May and June in rocky, hilly woods 

 and damp soil from Canada and Ohio to the Gulf 

 States. 



SHEEP LAUREL. LAMBKILL. WICKY. CALF- 

 KILL. SHEEP-POISON 



Kalmia angustifolia. Heath Family. 



Thoreau regarded this species as being " handsomer 

 man the Mountain Laurel," but his point of view in this 

 respect has not met with popular approval. The 

 Lambkill has the reputation of being the most poison- 

 ous of the Laurels, and its foliage has caused many 

 deaths among cattle. The plant is similar in most 

 ways to the Mountain Laurel, but is much smaller. It 

 grows only from six inches to three feet high with a 

 few nearly erect branches and is very leafy. The 

 drooping, evergreen leaves are oblong or lance-shaped, 

 mostly in opposite pairs, or near the ends of the 

 branches in small groups. They are smooth and 

 dark-green, with yellowish midrib and short stems, 

 and are frequently marred with rusty spots. The 

 saucer-shaped flower is purple or crimson, with shiny, 

 purple-tipped, pink stamens and a pink pistil. The 

 flowers are arranged in loose, round clusters, whorled 

 on the old stalk, or on one side just below the 

 new, light green, erect leaves of the recent exten- 

 sion. In the Southern States, where the darkies go 

 about barefooted, the leaves are used by them 

 as a remedy for sore feet. Sheep Laurel is found 



72 



