Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


Home	About NPWRC	Our Science	Staff	Employment	Contacts	Common Questions	About the Site

Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Pale Laurel
Kalmia polifolia Wangenh.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Heath (Ericaceae)
Flowering: May-July
Field Marks: This low-growing laurel is distinguished by its narrow, opposite, evergreen leaves that are more than twice as long as broad.
Habitat: Wet meadows, bogs, swamps.
Habit: Low-growing, spreading shrub.
Stems: Much branched, up to 12 inches long, smooth or hairy.
Leaves: Opposite, simple, evergreen, linear to oblong, pointed at the tip, tapering to the nearly sessile base, dark green above, more or less glaucous below, up to 1 inch long, less than 1/2 inch wide, smooth or slightly hairy, without teeth bu
Flowers: Few in terminal clusters, 3/4-1 inch across, on smooth, slender stalks up to 1 3/4 inches long.
Sepals: 5, green, united below, 1/3-1/2 inch long, smooth, the lobes oblong to ovate.
Petals: 5, united to form a saucer, rose-purple, 3/4-1 inch across.
Stamens: 10, not exserted beyond the petals.
Pistils: Ovary superior, smooth; style slender.
Fruits: Capsules spherical, up to 1/3 inch in diameter, smooth, subtended by the persistent sepals.
Notes: This species is sometimes combined with K. microphylla.

Previous Species -- Alpine Bog Laurel (Kalmia microphylla)
Return to Species List -- Group 5
Next Species -- Glandular Labrador-tea (Ledum glandulosum)

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/5/kalmpoli.htm
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:25:52 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww54]