Image ID: 15128
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library
PLANT INDEX
ID_PLANT: KABU
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Kalmia buxifolia
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-12-19
GENUS INDEX
GENUS CODE: KALMI GENUS SCIENTIFIC:Kalmia GENUS AUTHORITY: L. GENUS COMMON: Laurel GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of 9-11 species, shrubs, of North America and Cuba, except the circumboreal K. procumbens (formerly Loiseleuria). Leiophyllum, traditionally treated as a monotypic or small genus of se. United States, is better treated as a part of Kalmia along with the northern Loiseleuria, based on molecular and morphological studies (Kron & King 1996, Kron et al. 2002). While this idea may initially seem outlandish (particularly to those whose concept of Kalmia is based only on Kalmia latifolia), the morphological and habital similarities of Leiophyllum to Kalmia are striking. The foliage and wood of all species (and the smoke from burning them) are poisonous. GENUS IDENTIFICATION: GENUS REFERENCES: Liu, Denford, Ebinger, Packer, & Tucker in FNA (2009); Southall & Hardin (1974)=Z; Ebinger (1974)=Y; Strand & Wyatt (1991)=Q; Wilbur & Racine (1971)=T; Camp (1938)=P; Kron & King (1996); Kron et al. (2002)=V; Kron, Judd, & Anderberg (2008); Haines (2010)=U; Stevens et al. in Kubitzki (2004).
FAMILY INDEX
FAMILY CODE: ERICAC FAMILY SCIENTIFIC:Ericaceae FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789 FAMILY COMMON: Heath Family FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 107-124 genera and 3400-4100 species, primarily shrubs, small trees, and subshrubs, nearly cosmopolitan. The Ericaceae is very important in our area, which is one of the north temperate centers of diversity for the Ericaceae, with a great diversity of genera and species, many of them rather narrowly endemic. Along with Quercus and Pinus, various members of this family are dominant in much of our landscape. FAMILY REFERENCE: Tucker in FNA (2009); Gillespie & Kron (2010, 2013); Kron et al. (2002); Wood (1961); Judd & Kron (1993); Kron & Chase (1993); Luteyn et al. (1996)=L; Dorr & Barrie (1993); Cullings & Hileman (1997); Stevens et al. in Kubitzki (2004).
This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast
2018 Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina
This information is derived from the 2018 North Carolina Natural Heritage Program List of Rare Plant Species.
WEAKLEY FLORA
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Kalmia buxifolia
COMMON NAME: Sand-myrtle
SYNONYMY: [= FNA, Pa, V; = Leiophyllum buxifolium (P.J. Bergius) Elliott - C, K, L, Q, T, W; > Leiophyllum buxifolium var. buxifolium - RAB; > Leiophyllum buxifolium var. prostratum (Loudon) Gray - RAB; > Leiophyllum buxifolium var. hugeri (Small) Schneider - F, G, P; > Leiophyllum lyonii Sweet - S, P; > Leiophyllum hugeri (Small) K. Schumann - S; = Dendrium buxifolium (Bergius) Desvaux]
PHENOLOGY: Late Mar-Jun (sporadically to Oct); Sep-Oct.
HABITAT: Locally abundant but very restricted in wet (spodosol) pinelands of the outer Coastal Plain (in Brunswick and Carteret counties, NC), locally common in relatively dry sandhills in a few locations in the Sandhills, disjunct in the Piedmont on a few quartzite monadnocks, fairly common in the mountains on rock outcrops at high to moderate elevations (on a wide variety of rock types).
COMMENTS: The species is curiously distributed, both in its overall range and within NC. Kalmia buxifolia is found in the Pine Barrens of NJ, the outer Coastal Plain of se. NC, the inner Coastal Plain (fall-line sandhills) of sc. NC and nc. SC, monadnocks of the upper Piedmont of NC, mountain peaks of NC and immediately adjacent nw. SC, ne. GA, and e. TN, and isolated in extreme e. PA (Monroe County) and in se. KY (on sandstone in Whitley County, in the Cumberland Plateau). Populations in the high mountains consist of very old, prostrate krummholz, the stems to 6 cm in diameter at the base, the branches spreading to cover at least a square meter. The disjunct distribution, various habitats, and subtle morphological variation between populations has led to periodic attempts to divide the species into two or more varieties or species, but the variability apparently cannot be successfully described taxonomically; it is here treated as a single species. See X, Y, and Q for detailed discussion of the various taxa recognized by various authors (within the genus Leiophyllum). Strand & Wyatt (1991) found a population from Hanging Rock, Stokes County, NC to be the most distinctive, but did not choose to give it formal taxonomic status.
RANGE MAP: Kalmia buxifolia.png
Key to Map SymbolsABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora) Ericaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Heath Family) SUMMARY: A family of about 107-124 genera and 3400-4100 species, primarily shrubs, small trees, and subshrubs, nearly cosmopolitan. The Ericaceae is very important in our area, which is one of the north temperate centers of diversity for the Ericaceae, with a great diversity of genera and species, many of them rather narrowly endemic. Along with Quercus and Pinus, various members of this family are dominant in much of our landscape. REFERENCE: Tucker in FNA (2009); Gillespie & Kron (2010, 2013); Kron et al. (2002); Wood (1961); Judd & Kron (1993); Kron & Chase (1993); Luteyn et al. (1996)=L; Dorr & Barrie (1993); Cullings & Hileman (1997); Stevens et al. in Kubitzki (2004).ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora) Kalmia L. (Laurel) SUMMARY: A genus of 9-11 species, shrubs, of North America and Cuba, except the circumboreal K. procumbens (formerly Loiseleuria). Leiophyllum, traditionally treated as a monotypic or small genus of se. United States, is better treated as a part of Kalmia along with the northern Loiseleuria, based on molecular and morphological studies (Kron & King 1996, Kron et al. 2002). While this idea may initially seem outlandish (particularly to those whose concept of Kalmia is based only on Kalmia latifolia), the morphological and habital similarities of Leiophyllum to Kalmia are striking. The foliage and wood of all species (and the smoke from burning them) are poisonous. REFERENCE: Liu, Denford, Ebinger, Packer, & Tucker in FNA (2009); Southall & Hardin (1974)=Z; Ebinger (1974)=Y; Strand & Wyatt (1991)=Q; Wilbur & Racine (1971)=T; Camp (1938)=P; Kron & King (1996); Kron et al. (2002)=V; Kron, Judd, & Anderberg (2008); Haines (2010)=U; Stevens et al. in Kubitzki (2004).
HERBARIUM RESOURCES
SERNEC: Find Kalmia buxifolia in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available) UNC SERNEC: Find Kalmia buxifolia in
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)