THE LAUREL. 167 
the southern sun. It will not bear transplanting, espe- 
cially if of any size. The seed is small and requires 
the greatest skill to raise plants from it. The tree has 
flowers of a red color. 
SHEEP LAUREL. 
This laurel has smaller leaves and flowers of a deeper 
red than the American laurel, and continues a longer 
time in bloom. This also goes by the name of sheep- 
kill, as a great many sheep die from the effects of eat- 
ing its leaves; but Bryant explains this, and probably 
he is right, by saying that it is more from the indigesti- 
ble nature of the leaves than from any poison contained 
in them. 
THE GREAT LAUREL. 
This species is found in New England, but much more 
abundantly farther south ; cool, moist, deeply shaded sit- 
uations are most congenial to its growth. It is found 
mostly along mountain torrents, and in these favorable 
situations reaches the height of twenty-five or thirty 
feet ; it bears a rose-colored flower with yelléw dots on 
the inside, but sometimes the flowers are a pure white, 
with very thick leaves that are from four to ten inches 
long. Although a native of the Northern States, this 
tree is not cultivated as much as the rose bay. 
THE ROSE BAY. 
This tree is a native of the highest summits of the 
Alleghanies, and is found scattered all along the moun- 
tainous region from the Catskills to the lowest edges of 
the Blue and Alleghany ridges. It is much smaller than 
the great laurel, as it seldcm reaches the height of six 
feet, and is always cultivated for its beauty ; it does not 
thrive in soils impregnated with lime; in transplanting, 
place in a bed of swamp-muck and rotten wood. 
