MOUNTAIN-LAUREL 



'Kalmia latifolia Linnaeus 



Mountain-laurel is a joy to the flower lover, not only when its 

 beautiful blooms are plentiful in late spring, but also during the 

 other months of the year, when its glossy evergreen leaves lend 

 themselves so readily to the decoration of our homes. The intricate 

 structure of the flowers is very curious. Each anther is tucked into 

 a pocket on the inside of the corolla. When a bee probes the nec- 

 taries at the base of the flower tube the anthers are released and 

 spring upward, emptying their pollen pouches upon the bee, which 

 carries the pollen to the stigma of the next flower visited, thus 

 effecting cross-pollination. The flower stalks are hairy and sticky and 

 consequently entrap many ants and other small insects which are 

 not useful in pollination. Honey made from mountain-laurel nectar 

 is poisonous, and the leaves are deadly to stock. The heavy, hard, 

 and tough wood is in demand for the manufacture of small articles. 



Mountain-laurel prefers sandy or rocky, acid soil. It frequently 

 forms densely interlaced thickets and sometimes grows to a height 

 of twenty feet. Rarely it is a tree as high as forty feet, with a trunk 

 diameter of eighteen inches. Mountain-laurel was taken to Europe 

 about 1750 by Peter Kalm, the Swedish explorer. He was a friend 

 of Linnaeus, who gave the shrub the name Kalmia in his honor. It 

 is the State flower of Connecticut. 



Mountain-laurel extends from Florida to Louisiana, western Ken- 

 tucky, and Indiana, and northward to Ontario and New Brunswick. 



The sketch was made from a specimen obtained near Washing- 

 ton, District of Columbia. 



PLATE 2.2.1 



