Plant Family: Ericaceae
Growth Form: Large shrub up to 5 meters tall.
Leaves: Opposite or alternate, simple, elliptic, evergreen, 6 – 10 cm long, crowded at the twig ends and so appearing whorled, new leaves bright green, older leaves dark green. The leaves are poisonous to livestock.
Bark: Gray to reddish brown, lightly furrowed and scaly.
Flowers: In attractive clusters arising from the leaf axils, white, or white tinged with pink, or rose red, depending on the form, with five fused petals and ten stamens that are embedded in the corolla; mid-June to July, earlier further south.
Fruits: Brown globose pods with a long projecting style, August into winter.
Habitat: Understory of upland forests, rocky woods, mountain slopes, sometimes in wetter habitats such as cedar swamps, prefers acid soils, commonly cultivated.
Range: Rare in Maine, uncommon in Vermont, more common in southern New England, ranging south in the Appalachian highlands to Georgia and Alabama.
Key Features: The attractive, saucer-shaped flowers and upland forest habitat distinguish Mountain Laurel.
Comments: In all members of the genus Kalmia the attached stamens are released when touched by an insect (often bumblebees), sprinkling pollen onto the pollinator’s body for distribution to the next flower.
