Kalmia polifolia
| Kalmia polifolia | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Kalmia |
| Species: | K. polifolia |
| Binomial name | |
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Kalmia polifolia Wangenh. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Kalmia glauca |
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Kalmia glauca
Chamaedaphne glauca
Kalmia polifolia, previously known as Kalmia glauca and commonly called bog laurel, swamp laurel, or pale laurel, is a perennial evergreen shrub of cold acidic bogs, in the family Ericaceae. It is native to north-eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Hudson Bay southwards.
The genus 'Kalmia' is named after Pehr Kalm, a Swedish-Finn botantist, who was a student of Linnaeus. The species name, 'polifolia', is Latin for 'pole-leaves' or 'pole-petals'.
The former species name, 'glauca', is Latin for gleaming or gray, a word ultimately dervived from the Ancient Greek 'γλαυκός', meaning blue-green or blue-gray.
The plant was first described by Friedrich Adam Julius von Wangenheim, a German botantist.
Kalmia polifolia is common throughout Northern North American, thriving along the Eastern American states and in Montana, as well as in every Canadian province except in British Columbia, although spottings have been reported of Kalmia polifolia at Rhododenron Lake, located near Vancouver Island. Within Canada, Kalmia polifolia is very commonly found in east Nova Scotia where bog conditions are more frequent.Kalmia polifolia has also been spotted in a bog in Surrey, England.
Kalmia polifolia flowers in April and is pollinated by bees. Bees, however, after pollinating this plant, produce a poison honey. Its seeds ripen in September. These seeds are five-parted, round, and woody.
Kalmia polifolia can grow to be two feet tall. Its leaves are arranged oppositely upon its branch and grow to be an inch to an inch and a half in length and tend to be waxy with an entire and revolute margin. Below each leaf base there are ridges, where it appears as though a part of the leaf is curled around the circumference of the stem. This is especially noticeable lower on the plant.
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Wikipedia