Kalmia
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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,[1] 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.
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.
ExpandRead about Kalmia in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Cultivation
Propagation
Pests and diseases
Species
- Kalmia angustifolia L. - Sheep-laurel, Lambkill
- Kalmia carolina Small - Carolina Mountain-laurel
- Kalmia cuneata Michx. - Whitewicky
- Kalmia ericoides Wright - Cuban Kalmia
- Kalmia hirsuta Walt. - Hairy Mountain-laurel
- Kalmia latifolia L. - Mountain-laurel, Lambkill
- Kalmia microphylla (Hook.) A. Heller - Alpine laurel, Alpine Bog-laurel, Alpine Mountain-laurel, sometimes considered a variety or subspecies of Kalmia polifolia
- Kalmia occidentalis Small - Synonymous with Kalmia microphylla
- Kalmia polifolia Wangenh. - Bog Kalmia, Bog-laurel
The related Kalmiopsis (Kalmiopsis leachiana) is a rare shrub native to the Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Natural History Education, Science, Technology regarding alternate names, accessed March 30, 2007.
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
- w:Kalmia. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
- Kalmia QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)