THE KALMIA. 



The Kalmia, on account of its superficial resemblance 

 to the green bay-tree, often called the American laurel, 

 is more nearly allied to the heath. The name of Kalmia, 

 which is more musical than many others of similar deri- 

 vation, was given to this genus of evergreen shrubs by 

 Linnaeus, in honor of Peter Kalm, a distinguished bot- 

 anist and one of his pupils. This is exclusively an 

 American family of plants, containing only five species, 

 three of which are natives of New England soil and 

 two of them among our most common shrubs. 



THE MOUNTAIN LAUKEL. 



Not one of our native shrubs is so generally admired 

 as the Mountain Laurel ; no other equals it in glowing 

 and magnificent beauty. But .the " patriots " who plunder 

 the fields of its branches and flowers for gracing the fes- 

 tivities of the "glorious Fourth" wUl soon exterminate 

 this noble plant from our land. There are persons who 

 never behold a beautiful object, especially if it be a flower 

 or a bird, without wishing to destroy it for some selfish, 

 devout, or patriotic purpose. The Mountain Laurel is not 

 so showy as the rhododendron, with its deeper crimson 

 bloom ; but nothing can exceed the minute beauty of its 

 individual flowers, the neatness of their structure, and 

 the delicacy of their shades as they pass from rose-color 

 to white on different bushes in the same group. The 

 flpwer is monopetalous, expanded to a cup with ten an- 



