123 
The laurel is usually found on rocky or barren soil in hilly 
regions, ranging from New Brunswick and Ontario southward to 
Florida and Louisiana and blooms in May to July according to 
its range. 
The earliest account of Kalmia latifolia appeared in 1705 in the 
of Plukenet, who figured it very 
753 
described and figured in a colored plate by Marc meee in 
1771 in his Natural History of oe ae and the Bah 
Sneaaee a introduced it into cultivation. The following | is 
i acco 
s or oan have their peculiar pease it is difficult to 
assign to a Li others; yet, considering 
the curious structure ie the flower, se aes) | appearance of 
this whole plant, I know of no shrub that has a better claim to it. 
After several unsuccessful attempts to propagate it from seeds, I 
procured plants of it at several times from America, but with 
little better success; for they gradually ae and pro- 
duced no blossoms, till my curious friend, Mr. er Collinson, 
excited by a view a its dried specimens and PN of it, 
procured some plants of it from Pennsylvania; which climate 
being nearer to that of England, than from whence mine came, 
some bunches of blossoms were produced in July, 1740, and in 
1741, in my garden at Fulham.” 
The laurel belongs to the Ericaceae, or Heath family, as do 
the azaleas, aes blueberries and arbutus, and it 
M 
has been conclusively shown by Mr. ville, Botanist of the 
United States Department e Adee in Washington, that 
what they need for successful cultivation, is an acid soil and an 
abundance of leaf mould. The arbutus has been grown in pots 
from seed and it may be that at no distant date, it may be forced 
as tulips and hyacinths are now, for Easter. Rhododendrons and 
laurel are being shipped in carload lots by dealers from the moun- 
tains of Pennsylvania and the southern Alleghanies, who supply 
florists and nurserymen from wild sources. How long can they 
last? 
ELizABETH G. Britton. 
