Mountain Laurel
Kalmia latifolia
Family Ericaceae

Characteristics:
* Flowers starlike, deep pink to white, with 5 fused petals. In clusters.
* Leaf elliptical, leathery, evergreen, alternate or whorled.
* Bark reddish brown, scaly.
* Height: Under 3'.

Natural History:
* Flowers May - July.
* Habitat: Moist soils, rocky woods and swamps.
* Range: Eastern United States.
* Native.

Connections!
* In Massachusetts, mountain laurel has been called Calico Bush and Spoon-Hunt.

* The eminent taxonomist Linnaeus named Kalmia after New Jersey resident Peter Kalm, who in 1748 remarked:
"The Swedes have named it [the spoon tree], because the Indians used to make their spoons and trowels of its wood."