OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Kalmia carolina   FAMILY Ericaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Kalmia carolina   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Kalmia angustifolia var. carolina

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC ERROR) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-08-002:

Kalmia angustifolia var. caroliniana   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)

Kalmia angustifolia var. carolina

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Kalmia carolina

 

COMMON NAME:
Southern Sheepkill, Carolina Wicky, Carolina Sheep Laurel, Carolina Bog Myrtle


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Kalmia carolina, Southern Sheepkill, Carolina Wicky, Carolina Sheep Laurel, Carolina Bog Myrtle

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_kaca2_001_lvd

        

image of Kalmia carolina, Southern Sheepkill, Carolina Wicky, Carolina Sheep Laurel, Carolina Bog Myrtle

Patrick D. McMillan    pdmkcarolina_junkyard4

April    Clarendon County    SC

The flowers are miniatures of the larger Mountain Laurel (K. latifolia), per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Kalmia carolina, Southern Sheepkill, Carolina Wicky, Carolina Sheep Laurel, Carolina Bog Myrtle

JK Marlow    jkm0505l_16

May    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Highly poisonous! Do not ingest, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).

image of Kalmia carolina, Southern Sheepkill, Carolina Wicky, Carolina Sheep Laurel, Carolina Bog Myrtle

Dan Whitten    sdw_052521_kalmia

May        NC

image of Kalmia carolina, Southern Sheepkill, Carolina Wicky, Carolina Sheep Laurel, Carolina Bog Myrtle

JK Marlow    jkm0411a_16

November    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Lvs coriaceous, green w a bluish tinge, lustrous above, hairy below, whorled, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).

image of Kalmia carolina, Southern Sheepkill, Carolina Wicky, Carolina Sheep Laurel, Carolina Bog Myrtle

JK Marlow    jkm0411a_17

November    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Shrub to 2m tall (though often much shorter ), per Weakley's Flora (2015).

image of Kalmia carolina, Southern Sheepkill, Carolina Wicky, Carolina Sheep Laurel, Carolina Bog Myrtle

JK Marlow    jkm0411c_30

November    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

The anthers are tucked into pockets and pop out when touched by insects, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Kalmia carolina   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Kalmia carolina   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Kalmia angustifolia var. carolina

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC ERROR) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 145-08-002:
Kalmia angustifolia var. caroliniana   FAMILY Ericaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Kalmia angustifolia var. carolina

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Kalmia carolina

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

779

Shrub
Perennial

Habitat: Moist to wet pinelands of the Coastal Plain, pocosin margins (or seemingly in pocosins or swamps because of fire suppression), mountain bogs and fens (and less commonly in rocky areas at high elevations) in the Mountains, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in NC Coastal Plain, uncommon in SC Coastal Plain (rare in Mountains) (rare in GA)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Whorls of 3
Petioles 4-12mm long

FLOWER:
Spring
Reddish-pink (rarely white)
5 sepals
5-lobed corolla
10 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual

Flowers in axillary racemes

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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