Specimen record
Mountain Laurel
Kalmia latifolia
Description
The state flower of Connecticut, mountain laurel is an evergreen shrub that produces spectacular clusters of white to pink cup-shaped flowers in mid-June. The flowers have an ingenious catapult mechanism: bent stamens are tucked into pockets in the corolla and spring outward when triggered by a visiting bee, dusting the insect with pollen. It forms dense thickets on rocky, acidic slopes.
Identification tips
- 1Cup-shaped flowers white to pink, often with a ring of dark pink spots inside
- 2Stamens bent like spring-loaded catapults, tucked into corolla pockets
- 3Leathery, glossy, dark green evergreen leaves, alternate, elliptical
- 4Gnarled, twisting trunks and branches on older specimens
- 5Brown seed capsules persist through winter in star-shaped clusters
Specimen & preservation notes
Press a flowering branch with a few flower clusters and several leaves. Flowers are thick and fleshy — slice some in half longitudinally to show the stamen catapult mechanism. Allow extra drying time (3–4 weeks) for the leathery leaves.
Habitats
Collection calendar
| Wk | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov |
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| 4 |
Collection notes
Season check
Guide window matches observed bloom.
Flowering records: 437 iNaturalist observations, Massachusetts · Nearby: 505 observations within 25 km