Index / Search / Kalmia polifolia
§1 Plant
Kalmia polifolia Wangenh.
vernacular bog laurel — species · Ericaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Ericaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Kalmia
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
- SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§2b
County-level range
· 162 counties across 11 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Low
- Shade
- Low
- Moisture use
- Medium
- Fire
- Medium
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- Medium
- CaCO₃
- Medium
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -28 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 85 min.
- Precipitation
- 12–20 in/yr
- pH range
- 6–7.3
- Root depth
- 12 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 1 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 1 ft
- Foliage texture
- Coarse
- Foliage colour
- Dark Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Moderate
- Porosity (winter)
- Moderate
- Flower colour
- Purple
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 25,000,000
- Propagation
- seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Contracting Only
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Browse palatability
- Low
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 162 counties across 11 states/territories.
Maine view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 48 N ▾
- Alger 26003
- Alpena 26007
- Arenac 26011
- Baraga 26013
- Bay 26017
- Benzie 26019
- Charlevoix 26029
- Cheboygan 26031
- Chippewa 26033
- Clare 26035
- Crawford 26039
- Delta 26041
- Dickinson 26043
- Emmet 26047
- Gladwin 26051
- Gogebic 26053
- Grand Traverse 26055
- Gratiot 26057
- Houghton 26061
- Ionia 26067
- Iosco 26069
- Iron 26071
- Isabella 26073
- Kalkaska 26079
- Keweenaw 26083
- Lake 26085
- Lapeer 26087
- Leelanau 26089
- Luce 26095
- Mackinac 26097
- Marquette 26103
- Mason 26105
- Midland 26111
- Missaukee 26113
- Montmorency 26119
- Oakland 26125
- Ogemaw 26129
- Ontonagon 26131
- Osceola 26133
- Oscoda 26135
- Otsego 26137
- Presque Isle 26141
- Roscommon 26143
- Sanilac 26151
- Schoolcraft 26153
- St. Clair 26147
- Washtenaw 26161
- Wexford 26165
Minnesota view state ↗ 19 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 14 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 4 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 27 N ▾
- Albany 36001
- Cattaraugus 36009
- Clinton 36019
- Columbia 36021
- Cortland 36023
- Delaware 36025
- Erie 36029
- Essex 36031
- Franklin 36033
- Fulton 36035
- Hamilton 36041
- Lewis 36049
- Madison 36053
- Oneida 36065
- Onondaga 36067
- Orange 36071
- Oswego 36075
- Otsego 36077
- Rensselaer 36083
- Schoharie 36095
- St. Lawrence 36089
- Sullivan 36105
- Tioga 36107
- Ulster 36111
- Warren 36113
- Wayne 36117
- Westchester 36119
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/KAPO ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2882990 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T07:25:30Z