Kalmia latifolia L.

Mountain Laurel; Calico Bush; Spoonwood

Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

Mountain Laurel is a native evergreen shrub in the Heath family (Ericaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. It is absent from some of the areas with basic soil such as the Black Belt and portions of the Tennessee Valley. Mountain Laurel grows along creeks and rivers, on steep hardwood slopes, and occasionally on xeric red clay hilltops in longleaf pine woods. Mountain Laurel grows to a height of 6-20 feet. It is often a thicket forming shrub. Limbs and trunks are contorted. The bark is reddish brown and peels in long strips. Leaves are alternate, glossy, and glabrous, puberulent, or glandular. They are elliptic to lanceolate in outline, entire, and thick and leathery in texture. Flowers are produced in terminal panicles. Flowers are radially symmetrical with five petals untied for most of their length. Each petal has two pockets in which the tips of the anthers are held under tension. Flower color ranges from white through deep pink with darker markings on the inner surface. The fruit is a capsule with many small winged seed. All parts of this plant are toxic if ingested. When Mountain Laurel is in bud, the stamens elongate and the anthers get caught in tiny pockets around the base of the petals. When the petals open, the stamens are stretched taunt and bent over. This sets up a spring-loaded trap for visiting insects. When one lands on the flower and touches the stamen, it releases it from the pocket and the stamen springs back, curling toward the center of the flower. This slaps that anther against the visiting insect, ensuring a good dusting of pollen. Mountain Laurel is commonly available from nurseries. There are many selected forms with different flower color and growth habits. Mountain Laurel prefers a moist, acidic, organic soil in partial shade. It plants are grown in deep shade they will not produce many flowers, and plants grown in full sun are subject to foliage damage. Plants can also be grown from cuttings and by layering.--A. Diamond

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Native FACU (NWPL)

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