BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Kalmia latifolia | Mountain-Laurel 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Mountain-laurel is a broad-leaved evergreen shrub that is 10 to 30 feet
(3-9 m) tall at maturity [7,9].  The crooked, irregular branches are
characteristically contorted, forming dense thickets.  The shiny
evergreen leaves are simple, alternate, and mostly crowded at the branch
tips.  The flowers are borne in panicled corymbs at the ends of leafy
branchlets.  The fruit is an oblong capsule, 0.5 to 1 inch (1.2-2.5 cm)
long. The bark is reddish brown to dark gray, and thin [11,14,35].



RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Undisturbed State: Phanerophyte (microphanerophyte)
   Undisturbed State: Phanerophyte (nanophanerophyte)
   Burned or Clipped State: Cryptophyte (geophyte)


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Mountain-laurel regenerates both sexually and asexually.  The small
seeds are disseminated a short distance by wind, but their preference
for short moss seedbeds or moist mineral soil restricts seedling
production to relatively small areas.  Mountain-laurel regenerates
mostly by sprouting from the root collar, by rhizomes, and by layering
[19].

Pollination: The pollination mechanism of mountain-laurel is
particularly interesting.  The tension in the filaments of the flower is
released when the tongue of a bee is inserted in the crevis between the
ovary and stamens.  The stamens change position causing the pollen to be
thrown onto the head of the bee where it is carried to the stigma of the
next flower visited [3].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Mountain-laurel occupies dry to mesic sites on upper rocky slopes and
mountainous areas [3,8].  It is often abundant in the higher elevation
(to 5,000 feet [1,400 m]) ridgetop pine forest of the southern
Appalachians but can also be found in some lower elevation wet forests
[1,2,5].  Common trees associates include table mountain pine (Pinus
pungens), pitch pine (P. rigida), Virginia pine (P. virginia), white
pine (P. strobus), and red maple (Acer rubrum) [4,17].  Understory
associates include rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), witherod
(Viburnum cassinoides), bullbrier (Smilax rotundifolia), and red elder
(Sambucus pubens) [5,13,15].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Site descriptions indicate that mountain-laurel is a shade-intolerant
species [18].  Presence of mountain-laurel decreases as the tree canopy
increases, indicating that it is mid to late seral species [17].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Mountain-laurel develops flowers from March to July, depending on
latitude and altitude.  The fruit ripens in September and October of the
same year [3].

Related categories for Species: Kalmia latifolia | Mountain-Laurel