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Trailing Azalea

Kalmia procumbens

Also called Alpine-azalea

Trailing Azalea
Photo: Kim Hansen, CC BY-SA 3.0

A tiny evergreen dwarf shrub of cold, high mountain and arctic regions, usually under 10 cm tall, grown mainly for its rose-pink flowers and mat-forming habit. It needs cool conditions and an open, gritty, acidic soil, and it is rarely grown outside its native range.

Family
Ericaceae (Heather family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist in summer and avoid waterlogging, since it dislikes drying out or sitting wet.
Soil
Acidic, humus-rich, free-draining mix such as peat with grit or sand.
Temperature
Cool conditions suited to subalpine and subarctic climates; tolerates severe winter cold, but struggles with prolonged heat above about 25 °C.
How easy
Hard
Safety
Toxic: Plants in the genus Kalmia contain grayanotoxins, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and cardiac effects if eaten.
Native range
N. & C. Japan, Subarctic to N. U.S.A.
Climate
subalpine or subarctic

About

Kalmia procumbens, commonly known as alpine azalea or trailing azalea, is a dwarf shrub of high mountain regions of the Northern Hemisphere that usually grows no more than 10 centimeters (4 in) tall. Originally named by Linnaeus as Azalea procumbens, it is also named after French botanist L.L.A. Loiseleur-Deslongchamps - Loiseleuria procumbens.

Where it grows

Kalmia procumbens is not well known though it is widely distributed. These plants are common in the subarctic regions and high mountains of the northern hemisphere. In North America it reaches the southern limit of its range in the mountains of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Washington. It is easy to propagate.

Other Kalmia plants

Sheep laurel · Sand Myrtle · Whitewicky · Hairy laurel · Mountain laurel · Alpine laurel · Bog laurel · Laurel

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Kalmia procumbens 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.

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