Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

rate this answer

Thursday - March 19, 2015
From: Staunton, VA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Observation of Kalmia angustifolia in George Washington National Forest in Virginia
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
On Feb. 7th, 2015 I observed a variety Kalmia on the crest of a ridge, recently burned off, in the George Washington National Forest. I think it may be sheep laurel (Kalmia angustiflora), which colonized the burned-over area. In some places it grew next to Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel), which is very common here.ANSWER:
First of all, I think you must mean Kalmia angustifolia (Sheep laurel) not Kalmia angustiflora. Kalmia angustiflora does not appear in the USDA Plants Database and, therefore, not in our Native Plant Database. The "angusti-" of the species name means narrow and "-folia" indicates the leaf, so "angustifolia" means "narrow-leafed" which is descriptive of the species. It has been wrongly called Kalmia angustiflora by several sources.
Mr. Smarty Plants isn't completely sure what your question is. Kalmia latifolia (Mountain laurel) can be found over most of Virginia according to the distribution map of the USDA Plants Database; whereas, the USDA Plants Database distribution map for Kalmia angustifolia (Sheep laurel) shows it in only a few counties in Virginia, mostly along the North Carolina border. Even though it is not reported within the larger area of the George Washington National Forest, it is reported in Grayson and Carroll Counties which seem to include a very small area of the adjoining Jefferson National Forest according to this map.
It doesn't necessarily mean that Kalmia angustifolia hasn't been reported in some areas of the George Washington National Forest even if it doesn't appear on the distribution map in the counties that compose the George Washington National Forest. The USDA Plants Database on its Advanced Search and Download page says:
"Regardless of source, county distribution data are notoriously incomplete and can only be considered preliminary. For a broader idea of what may grow spontaneously in a particular county you may want to include adjacent counties that are phytogeographically similar in your search."
Here are the descriptions of Kalmia latifolia and Kalmia angustifolia from eFloras.org, the online version of Flora of North America.
There is one checklist of the plants in Jefferson National Forest, A Checklist of Common Plants of the Appalachian Trail in the Jefferson National Forest, Virginia compiled by Arnold Krochmal and Connie Krochmal in 1981. It lists Kalmia latifolia, but not Kalmia angustifolia.
If you are wishing to add this observation to the USDA Plants Database, please see this page for instructions on how to do that.
If you haven't already contacted them, you might like to contact the offices of the George Washington & Jefferson National Forests to see if there is a botanist on staff who would be interested in your observation.
From the Image Gallery
More Plant Identification Questions
Identification of tree bought from a magazine ad
August 11, 2013 - I recently submitted the following question to Ask An Expert. They were unable to identify the plant. I hope you will be able to.
Can you help me by either identifying this plant or advising me a...
view the full question and answer
Identification of small plant with white flowers in Baltimore, MD
June 21, 2012 - It's a small plant, has flowers in June, four white petals with large, tall conical center, about no more than an inch in diameter. The leaves are alternating with branched veins. It stays at about 6...
view the full question and answer
Looking for the identification of spice or cinnamon bush
May 30, 2011 - My grandmother had a flowering bush that had little yellow flowers on it and smelled like cinnamon to me. She called it a spice bush. Could you help me name that bush?
view the full question and answer
Plant identification
October 06, 2009 - We have a large bush type plant, about 4 feet tall, fragant voilet flowers, large dark green leaves and spiney seed pods (about the size of golf balls) that have many seeds inside. They started growi...
view the full question and answer
Plant identification
December 06, 2007 - I had a coworker bring back a branch of tree from San Antonio and the end of the branch fans out into a drapery type structure about a foot long with bud looking things all over it, almost fungally lo...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |