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Kalmia polifolia
Also called Swamp Laurel, Bog Kalmia, Northern Bog Laurel, Pale Bog Laurel, Pale Laurel, Box Laurel
Bog laurel is a small evergreen shrub of cold, acidic bogs and wet peatlands in northern North America, typically reaching about two feet tall. It thrives in cool, wet, acidic conditions and does not tolerate dry or alkaline soils.
Kalmia polifolia, previously known as Kalmia glauca and commonly called bog laurel, swamp laurel, or pale laurel, is a perennial evergreen shrub of cold acidic bogs, in the family Ericaceae. It is native to north-eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Hudson Bay southwards.
Kalmia polifolia is common throughout Northern North America, thriving along the Eastern American states and in Montana, as well as in every Canadian province except in British Columbia, although spottings have been reported of Kalmia polifolia at Rhododenron Lake, located near Vancouver Island. Within Canada, Kalmia polifolia is very commonly found in east Nova Scotia where bog conditions are more frequent. Kalmia polifolia has also been spotted in a bog in Surrey, England.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Kalmia polifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
