234 FOREST TREES. 
KALMIA. 
Natural Order, Ericacee. 
Calyx, five-parted; corolla, between wheel-shaped 
and bell-shaped, five-lobed, with ten depressions, in 
which the ten anthers are severally lodged until they 
begin to shed their pollen; filaments, thread form; 
pod, globose, five-celled, many-seeded. 
1. Kalmia latifolia—Laurel, Mountain Laurel. 
Leaves, mostly alternate, bright green both sides, 
ovate-lanceolate or elliptical, tapering to each end, 
petioled; corymbs, terminal, many-flowered, clammy, 
pubescent; pod, depressed, glandular. 
The Mountain Lanrel is common in many parts 
of Massachusetts, and is said to be found in some 
localities still further north. It is abundant south- 
ward along the Alleghany Mountains. It often 
forms dense thickets; which the crooked and un- 
yielding stems interlocked with each other, render 
almost impenetrable. It is commonly a shrub from 
six to ten feet high, but in favorable situations be- 
comes a small tree. According to Torrey jt is found 
twenty feet high on the Catskill Mountains, and it 
is said to exceed this size in the Southern States. I 
well remember the former existence of specimens 
near my native place, in localities as yet undisturbed 
by the wood-chopper, which were fifteen feet high 
and three inches in diameter; but they have long 
since disappeared. 
The wood of the Laurel more nearly resembles 
Boxwood than that of any other American tree; and 
