Kalmia - Laurel
From The Plant Encyclopedia
Mountain Laurel
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| Kalmia latifolia (Japan) | |
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Kalmia | |
| Category | Shrub |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Division | |
| Class | |
| Order | Ericales |
| Family | Ericaceae |
| Species in this genus | |
| Add a species |
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| Please enter the plant name in this format: 'Latin name - Common Name' | |
Aden Earth Zone
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Cultivation
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Characteristics
- Form: Shrub
- Habit: Evergreen
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- Uses: Ornamental
About
Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of Evergreen Shrubs from 0.2–5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae. They are native to North America (mainly in the eastern half of the continent) and Cuba. They grow in acidic soils, with different species in wet acid bog habitats (K. angustifolia, K. polifolia) and dry, sandy soils (K. ericoides, K. latifolia).
Kalmia is named after the Finnish botanist Pehr Kalm, who collected it in eastern North America during the 18th Century.
The leaves are 2–12 cm long, simple lanceolate, and arranged spirally on the stems. The flowers are white, pink or purple, in corymbs of 10-50, reminiscent of Rhododendron flowers but flatter, with a star-like calyx of five conjoined petals; each flower is 1–3 cm diameter. The fruit is a five-lobed capsule, which splits to release the numerous small seeds.
The foliage is toxic if eaten, with sheep being particularly prone to poisoning, hence the name lambkill used for some of the species. Other names for Kalmia, particularly Kalmia angustifolia, are sheep-laurel, lamb-kill, calf-kill, kill-kid, and sheep-poison,<ref name="NHEST">Natural History Education, Science, Technology regarding alternate names, accessed March 30, 2007.</ref> which may be written with or without the hyphen. (See species list below.) "Kid" here refers to a young goat, not a human child, but the foliage and twigs are toxic to humans as well.
It has also been called spoonwood because Kalm was told by Dutch settlers of North America that Native Americans made spoons from the wood.<ref>Plants of Colonial Days by Raymond Leech Taylor, p. 61. (1996) ISBN 0486294048. Accessed March 30, 2007.</ref> Given its toxicity, this may be folklore rather than scientific fact.
Kalmias are popular garden shrubs, grown for their decorative flowers. They should not be planted where they are accessible to livestock due to the toxicity.
Species
- Kalmia angustifolia - Sheep laurel, Lambkill
- Kalmia carolina - Carolina Mountain laurel
- Kalmia cuneata - Whitewicky
- Kalmia ericoides - Cuban Kalmia
- Kalmia hirsuta - Hairy Mountain laurel
- Kalmia latifolia - Mountain-laure, Lambkill
- Kalmia microphylla - Alpine laurel, Alpine Bog-laurel, Alpine Mountain-laurel, sometimes considered a variety or subspecies of Kalmia polifolia <ref name="USDA">http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=KAMI</ref>
- Kalmia occidentalis - Synonymous with Kalmia microphylla <ref name="USDA" />
- Kalmia polifolia - Bog Kalmia, Bog-laurel
The related Kalmiopsis (Kalmiopsis leachiana) is a rare shrub native to the Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon.
