MOUNTAIN LAUREL
Kalmia latifolia, L.
Form.—A shrub or small tree occasionally attaining a height of 15-25 feet; trunk stout, usually forked and bearing stiff, divergent branches which form an irregular, compact, rounded head.
Leaves.—Alternate, simple, evergreen, oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 3-4 inches long, acute at both ends, entire, green above and below, persistent for two seasons.
Flowers.—May-June; perfect, pink or white, in many-flowered terminal corymbs.
Fruit.—Matures in early autumn; a globose, 5-valved, many-seeded capsule, covered with viscid hairs and with persistent style and calyx.
Bark.—Roughened by narrow, thin scales which peel off, exposing brownish inner bark.
Wood.—Heavy, hard, strong, rather brittle, reddish-brown with lighter sapwood.
Range.—New Brunswick, south to Florida and west to Arkansas.
Distribution in West Virginia.—Found locally in all parts of the State.
Habitat.—Growing usually in thickets, sometimes with Great Laurel, on high mountain flats and rocky slopes. Common on thin hillsides.
Notes.—Mountain Laurel does not grow large enough to be of much importance as a wood producer. Occasionally small articles, such as bucket handles, penholders, pipes, etc. are made from it. Its rich evergreen foliage and its copious pink and white flowers are scarcely less attractive than those of Rhododendron Maximum.