ERICACEAE 289 



Rhododendron punctatum, Anclr. (or R.Cuthbcrtii. Small?). 



Snialler in every way than the ^jreceding. but (juite ornamental, 

 and offered for sale by some nurserymen. 



Grows in locky ravines and on bluffs, protected from fire. 



5. Tallapoosa County (Earle). Northwestern Coosa and eastern Chil- 

 ton Counties*, especially along Walnut Creek in the latter, though some of 

 it has recently been drowned out by back-water from the Mitchell Dam. 



8 (?). Near Eufaula (Chapman). 



Mciicicsia pilosa (Mx. ) Pers. (M. globiilaris. Sal.) a deciduous shrub, 

 is credited to the mountains of Alabama by Small, but that is probably a 

 mistake, for it is chiefly confined to the mountains of North Carolina, and 

 is not certainly known even from Georgia, which has mountains twice as 

 high as any in Alabama. 



KALMIA, L. The L.-m'REls (but not of ancient literature). 



Kalmia latifolia, L. ( Called Ivy in the South and ^Iouxtain 

 Laurkl in the Xorth, and also sometimes Calico Bush and 

 Spoox-wood.) 



(Fig. G6) 



A large handsome evergreen shrub with clusters of pinkish 

 flowers in April and Alay. I have seen it with stems six inches 

 in diame':er and twenty feet tall in Covington County, and it is 

 said to grow still larger in the mountains of Xorth Carolina, where 

 it is sometimes classed as a tree. It is often ctiltivated for orna- 

 ment, and is hardy almost anywhere in the eastern United States. 

 The wood is hard and close-grained, Intt of too small dimensions 

 to be good for much but fuel, rtistic furniture, tool-handles and 

 tobacco pipes. 



This species has a well-established reptitation for being poi- 

 sonous to cattle. It is usually the leaves that do the damage, but 

 a resident of IMarion County once expressed the belief that it was 

 only the pods that were poisonous. It does not usually grow in 

 places frequented by cattle, though. The flowers furnish honey, 

 which, how^ever, is suspected of having narcotic properties. 



Grows on non-calcareous bluffs and cliffs, in hammocks, 

 ravines, etc., ttstially in shady places where there are no earth- 

 worms in the soil and fire is rare or impossible. j 



*See Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 33:534. 1906. 

 fSee Torreya, 15:30. Feb. 1915. 



