Seria ila ay ly ly tt As! GP Dao 
green on both sides, and 
PLANTS FURNISHING MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HERBS. AY 
MOUNTAIN LAUREL. 
Kalmia latifolia L. 
Other common names.—Broad-leaved laurel, broad-leaved kalmia, American laurel, 
sheep laurel, rose laurel, spurge laurel, small laurel, wood laurel, kalmia, calico 
bush, spoonwood, spoon- 
hunt, ivy bush, big-leaved 
ivy, wicky, calmoun. 
Habitat and range.—The 
mountain laurel is found 
in sandy or rocky soil in 
woods from New Bruns- 
wick south to Ohio, Flor- 
ida, and Louisiana. 
Description.—This is an 
evergreen shrub fromabout 
4 to 20 feet in height, with 
leathery leaves, and when 
in flower it is one of the 
most beautiful and showy 
of our native plants. It 
has very stiff branches and 
leathery oval or elliptical 
leaves borne on _ stems, 
mostly alternate, pointed 
at both ends, with margins 
entire, smcoth and bright 
having terminal, clammy- 
hairy clusters of flowers, 
which appear from about 
May to June. The buds 
are rather oddly shaped 
and fluted, at first of a 
deep rose color, expanding Fic. 9.—Mountain laurel ( Kalmia latifolia), leaves and flowers. 
into saucer-shaped, more delicately tinted, whitish-pink flowers. Each saucer-shaped 
flower is provided with 10 pockets holding the anthers of the stamens, but from 
which these free themselves elastically when the flower is fully expanded. (Fig. 9.) 
The seed capsule is somewhat globular, the calyx and threadlike style remaining 
attached until the capsulesopen. Mountain laurel, which belongs to the heath family 
(Ericacez), is poisonous to sheep and calves. 
Colleciion, prices, and uses —The leaves, which bring about 3 to 4 cents a pound, 
are collected in the fall. They are used for their astringent properties. 
97225°—Bul. 219—11——3 
