Kalmia buxifolia

Shrubs erect, 0.1-1 m. Twigs terete or slightly 2-angled proximal to node, viscid, glabrous or sparsely hairy. Leaves alternate or opposite; petiole absent or 0.1-2 mm, glabrous or puberulent; blade ovate or oval to narrowly lanceolate, (0.4-)0.6-1.2(-1.4) × (0.2-)0.3-0.6 cm, margins somewhat revolute, apex obtuse, abaxial surface tomentulose, adaxial glabrous or sparsely puberulent toward base. Inflorescences terminal, corymbiform racemes or umbels, (3-)6-8(-18)-flowered. Pedicels 5-11 mm. Flowers: sepals green, lanceolate, 1-1.2 mm, apex acute, surfaces glabrous, margins ciliate; petals (spreading), distinct nearly their entire lengths, white or light pink, 3-4 × 2-3.5 mm, glabrous; filaments 3-5 mm; (ovary stipitate-glandular); style 3-4 mm. Capsules 2-3(-5)-locular, (persistent style forming beak on each locule), 2.5-4 × 2.5-3 mm, glabrous. Seeds not winged, oblong to ovoid, 0.4-0.5 mm.

Flowering mid spring. Open pine or oak woods in sandy soil, pocosins, and rocky summits; 0-1700(-1900) m; Ga., Ky., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Pa., S.C., Tenn.

Widely branched shrub 1-10 dm; lvs alternate to opposite, ovate to oblong, 6-12 mm; pedicels 5-10 mm, glabrous or stipitate-glandular; pet 3-4 mm; anthers purple; fr 3-4 mm; 2n=24. Dry, sandy pine-barrens, and on outcrops of acid rocks in the mts.; coastal plain of N.J., N.C., and S.C., and at a few way-stations inland to the higher mts. (mainly Smoky and Blue Ridge) of N.C., S.C., Ga., Tenn., and Ky. (Dendrium b.; D. hugeri)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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