{"id":260,"date":"2025-09-25T19:25:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T23:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/?p=260"},"modified":"2025-09-25T19:25:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T23:25:23","slug":"mountain-laurel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/mountain-laurel\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Laurel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns sidebar is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em>Kalmia latifolia<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-intro\">Mountain laurel is an evergreen shrub with shiny, waxy leaves and large blooms of small pink or white flowers. Despite all parts of the plant being toxic, mountain laurels are an important source of nectar for many pollinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group boxout has-light-green-background-color has-background is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-12dd3699 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Location<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Mountain laurels can be found along the interior side of the East-West trail as runs along Lovell Street.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/mountain-laurel-leaf.jpg\" alt=\"Mountain Laurel Tree leaves\" class=\"wp-image-262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/mountain-laurel-leaf.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/mountain-laurel-leaf-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/mountain-laurel-leaf-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:4rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull section-intro has-light-warm-gray-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-stretch is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"background-image:url(&apos;https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/mountain-laurel-tree.jpg&apos;);background-position:50% 50%;background-size:cover;\" class=\"wp-block-group padded lifted has-white-background-color has-background wp-container-content-69bc4bdf is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:25.625rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group padded has-charcoal-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-cdb64ae82e70be29c30c39305b77c84a is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History at Hadwen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"intro has-medium-font-size\">Mountain laurel was recorded as one of the species originally planted by Hadwen at least as early as 1882. In surveys conducted at the Hadwen Arboretum in 1971 and 1978, mountain laurel persists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group section is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div style=\"color:var(--clarku-color-green)\" class=\"eyebrow  has-text-align-left\">Keep learning<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Detailed species information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Mountain laurel, also known as calico-bush or spoonwood, is an evergreen flowering shrub in the family Ericaceae, native to the eastern United States. Typically more of a shrub than a tree, the mountain laurel reaches 9\u201329 feet (3\u20139 meters) in height. The bark is dark brown or reddish-brown and characterized by vertical peeling ridges. The deep green leaves are 5 inches (12 centimeters) in length, narrow, almond-shaped, shiny, and slightly waxy. In spring, the light pink or white hexagonal flowers emerge with bright pink details inside. It should be noted that all parts of this plant are poisonous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mountain laurel grows naturally on rocky slopes, uplands, and forests on mountainsides, preferring acidic soils. It is common to find mountain laurel growing in large thickets in the understories of forests. The flowers of the mountain laurel support many pollinators such as butterflies and hummingbirds. The wood of the mountain laurel is not commercially valuable due to its small size but can be used to make wreaths and baskets. The leaves were also used as a painkiller by the Cherokee, indigenous people of the southeastern United States. Because of its beautiful and distinctive flowers and glossy, evergreen leaves, the mountain laurel is sometimes planted as an ornamental shrub, and many cultivars have been developed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kalmia latifolia Mountain laurel is an evergreen shrub with shiny, waxy leaves and large blooms of small pink or white flowers. Despite all parts of the plant being toxic, mountain laurels are an important source of nectar for many pollinators. Location Mountain laurels can be found along the interior side of the East-West trail as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trees"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mountain Laurel | Hadwen Arboretum | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/mountain-laurel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mountain Laurel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kalmia latifolia Mountain laurel is an evergreen shrub with shiny, waxy leaves and large blooms of small pink or white flowers. Despite all parts of the plant being toxic, mountain laurels are an important source of nectar for many pollinators. Location Mountain laurels can be found along the interior side of the East-West trail as [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/mountain-laurel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hadwen Arboretum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClarkUniversityWorcester\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-25T23:25:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-25T23:25:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/mountain-laurel-leaf.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carol D&#039;Onofrio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/mountain-laurel\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/mountain-laurel\\\/\"},\"headline\":\"Mountain 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