6.
Kalmia polifolia
Wangenheim, Schriften Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin. 8(3): 130, plate 5. 1788.
Bog, swamp, or pale laurel
Kalmia glauca
Aiton
Shrubs
erect, to 1 m.
Twigs
slightly flattened, 2-angled, viscid, glabrous or puberulent in decurrent, ciliolate lines from petiole base.
Leaves
opposite; petiole 0.1-3 mm, glabrous or puberulent (base ciliate); blade usually oblong to linear, sometimes oval, 1.5-4.5 × 0.3-1.5 cm, margins usually revolute, apex obtuse to acute, abaxial surface puberulent, adaxial glabrate with puberulent bands on either side of midrib, midribs on both surfaces covered with purple, clavate trichomes.
Inflorescences
solitary flowers or terminal, corymbiform racemes, 3-8(-17)-flowered.
Pedicels
15-30 mm.
Flowers:
sepals pale, translucent, white to light pink, ovate, 2.9-4 mm, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous, margins ciliate; petals connate their entire lengths, usually rose-purple or pink, rarely white, 9-11 × 12-18 mm, glabrous except puberulent near base abaxially; filaments 4-5 mm; style 4.5-7 mm.
Capsules
5-locular, 4-6 × 4-7 mm, glabrous.
Seeds
winged, oblong, 1.5-2.2 mm.
2
n
= 48.
Flowering May-Jul. Open bogs, swamps, wet alpine slopes; 0-800 m; Alta., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.), N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask.; Conn., Maine, Mass., Mich., Minn., N.H., N.J., N.Y., Pa., R.I., Vt., Wis.; introduced in Europe (England).
Kalmia polifolia
is very closely related to
K. microphylla
and there is no general agreement on their taxonomic treatment. The two taxa have different flavonoid profiles and are distinctly separated (S. Liu 1993). The controversial Pacific lowland (Washington to Alaska) entity
occidentalis
resembles
K. polifolia
in structure; it is closely related to typical
microphylla
chemically and is separable from
K. polifolia
by key characters.
