Narrow-leaved bay rose
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Narrow-leaved bay rose ( Kalmia angustifolia ) |
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The narrow-leaved bay rose ( Kalmia angustifolia , English sheep laurel ) is a species of the heather family . The flowering shrub is widespread in eastern North America from Ontario and Quebec in the north to Virginia in the south.
ecology
Kalmia angustifolia generally grows in dry habitats in the boreal coniferous forest and can become the dominant species in large areas after clear cutting or forest fire. Like many plants on infertile soil, it has a symbiotic relationship with fungi ( mycorrhiza ) in addition to evergreen leaves . It is also found in drier areas of peat bogs .
description
The attractive small carmine-red flowers appear in early summer. Each has five sepals, the five petals are fused to form a corolla tube, which in turn is fused with the ten stamens. They are pollinated by bumblebees and solitary bees. Each ripe capsule fruit contains around 180 seeds.
Wild plants are between 15 and 90 centimeters high. New shoots sprout from dormant buds of rhizomes hidden in the ground . This process can be stimulated by fires. The evergreen leaves, pale underneath, usually sprout in groups of three from the stem. The Latin epithet “angustifolia” also means “narrow-leaved”. A peculiarity of the plant is that groups of leaves usually grow at the end of a wooden stem and the flowers are whirled or arranged in groups below the tips of the stem.
Numerous varieties were bred as ornamental plants, of which K. angustifolia f. rubra , with many red flowers, won the Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society .
Poisonous plant
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The plants of the genus Kalmia contain glycosides , the so-called grayanotoxins . They are poisonous to mammals. The plants are therefore undesirable in meadows. Several of their English trivial names refer to this toxicity: lamb-kill ( German lamb death ), sheep kill ( German sheep death ), calf-kill ( German calf death ), pig laurel ( German pig laurel ), sheep- laurel ( German sheep laurel ) and sheep poison ( German sheep poison ). It is also known as "Schmalblättriger Laurel" ( English narrow-leaved laurel ) and "dwarf laurel" ( English dwarf laurel ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kalmia angustifolia . United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
- ^ GF Weetman: Forestry practices and stress on Canadian forest land . In: W. Simpson-Lewis, R. McKechnie & V. Neimanis (Eds.): Stress on Land in Canada . Lands Directorate, Environment Canada, Ottawa 1983, pp. 260-301.
- ^ PA Keddy: Plants and Vegetation: Origins, Processes, Consequences . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 2007, p. 666.
- ^ A b I. V. Hall, LP Jackson, CF Everett: The biology of Canadian weeds. 1. Kalmia angustifolia L. . In: Canadian Journal of Plant Science . 53, 1973, pp. 865-873.
- ^ Lorraine Harrison: RHS Latin for Gardeners . Mitchell Beazley, United Kingdom 2012, ISBN 184533731X .
- ↑ Neltje Blanchan: Wild Flowers Worth Knowing . Doubleday, New York 1917.
- ↑ RHS Plant Selector - Kalmia angustifolia f. rubra . Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
- ^ AGM Plants - Ornamental . Royal Horticultural Society. S. 57 July 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
- ↑ Kalmia angustifolia, K. carolina . Retrieved February 1, 2019.
- ↑ Kalmia angustifolia . Retrieved February 1, 2019.
- ↑ a b Narrow - leaved bay rose on the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.