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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Kalmia latifolia | Mountain-Laurel
 

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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

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Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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