HEATH FAMILY. Ericaceae. 



Shee laurel l esser proportions, and small, 



or Lambkill narrow, drooping leaves, elliptical or lance- 

 Kalmia angusti- shaped, evergreen, and dull olive green 



often rusty-spotted, lighter green beneath. 



The flower is crimson-pinfc, small, but 



otherwise like that of Mountain Laurel, 

 except that the filaments and all other parts are more or 

 less pink-tinged. The stem is terminated by the newer 

 leaves which stand nearly upright ; beneath these is the 

 encircling flower-cluster ; below, the leaves droop. The 

 foliage is poisonous to cattle. 8-36 inches high. Com- 

 mon in swamps. Me. , south to Ga. , west to Wis. 

 Pale Laurel ^ similar and even smaller species, 



Kaimia polifolia blooming about the same time, distin- 

 Crimson=pink guished by its two-edged branches which 



seem to grow in sections set at right angles 

 with one another. The narrow, evergreen leaves grow 

 oppositely or are set in groups of three ; the edges are 

 rolled back rather strongly ; they are conspicuously white- 

 green beneath. The crimson-pink or often light lilac 

 flowers, | inch broad, terminate the stem. 6-20 inches 

 high, confined to cold peat bogs and hillside swamps, 

 from Me. , south to northern N. J. , and west to Mich. 

 White Swamp ^he wn<( l Rhododendrons are also shrubs 

 Honeysuckle which bear characteristically showy flow- 

 Ehododendron e rs. This species has a much branched 

 White stem, and obovate or blunt lance- shaped, 



June-July yellow-green leaves, with a few scattered 



hairs above. The twigs are hairy, and the 

 stem almost bare of leaves. The flowers (expanding later 

 than the leaves) are pure white or pink-tinged, with the 

 outside surface covered with ruddy, sticky hairs ; they are 

 very fragrant ; the stamens are prominent, the anthers 

 yellow ; the pinkish pistil is longer than the stamens. 

 Visited most frequently by bees, butterflies, and moths, 

 and protected from creeping insects by the sticky-hairy 

 outer surface of the corolla-tube. 3-7 feet high. In 

 swamps from Me., south, west to Ohio and Ark ; gener- 

 ally near the coast. The var. glaucum has much lighter 

 colored leaves rather whitish beneath, and sometimes 

 hairy. Me. to Va. The name (Greek) means rose-tree. 



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