Bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia)
Description
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.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.The base of the petiole is pressed against the stem as its flowers cluster in a single terminal bunch,which appears to be pink or purple in colour;the near cup-shaped flower spans about three-eighths of an inch in diameter.
Taxonomic tree
-
Domain: Eukarya
-
-
Kingdom: Plantae
-
-
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
-
-
Class: Magnoliopsida
-
-
Order: Ericales
-
-
Family: Ericaceae
-
-
Genus: Kalmia
-
-
-
-
-
-
