310 ERICACEAE (HEATH FAMILY) 
STAGGER-BUSH 
Lyonia mariana, D. Don. 
(Preris mariana, B. and H.) 
Other English names: Maryland Andromeda, Calfkill, Sheepkill. 
Native. Perennial. Propagated by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to June. * 
Seed-time: August to September. 
Range: Rhode Island to Florida on the Atlantic slope; also in 
Tennessee and Arkansas. 
Habitat: Low, moist soil; wet meadows and pastures. 
Like the Sheep Laurel, this poisonous plant does most harm 
while very small; for, though cattle and sheep sometimes browse, 
they prefer to graze, and it is 
usually the young, green shoots 
which spring up in damp, sandy 
pastures that are eaten by sheep 
and calves and cause them to 
stagger dizzily about, with slaver- 
ing mouths and labored breathing, 
until they fall and die. (Fig. 216.) 
_ Stems one to four feet tall, with 
slender branches held nearly up- 
right; the bark of old wood is 
specked with black dots. Leaves 
alternate, oblong, smooth and 
glossy above but sparingly hairy 
on the heavy veins and the mid- 
rib below, the under surface black- 
dotted, two or three inches in 
. length, pointed at both ends, with 
Bie. Cee ee ae Tank petioles and entire edges, the 
margins slightly revolute; they 
cling to the twigs until very late in the season, but are not ever- 
green. The flowers grow on the leafless wood of the preceding 
year’s growth and are clustered just above the scars of last year’s 
leaves; they are white or faintly rosy nodding bells, with bulging 
bases and slightly constricted throats, a little larger than lilies of 
the valley, which they somewhat resemble in form. The calyx is 
