Mountain Laurel

Kalmia latifolia, mountain laurel, is a broadleaf evergreen shrub native to the eastern United States, reaching four to fifteen feet. Glossy leathery leaves form a dense rounded mass, and in late spring the plant carries tight clusters of cup-shaped flowers, white through deep pink, each marked with purple and opening from crimped, distinctly ridged buds.

The flowers have a spring-loaded mechanism: the anthers are held under tension in pockets in the petals and snap forward to dust a visiting bee with pollen. Every part of the plant contains grayanotoxins and is seriously poisonous — to people, dogs and especially livestock — and honey made from the flowers is toxic too.