Kalmia procumbens
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Kalmia procumbens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Common Names
- Alpine Azalea
Synonyms
- Azalea procumbens L.
- Loiseleuria procumbens (L.) Loisel.
Editorial Note
Bean treated this species under the monotypic genus Loiseleuria, now included in Kalmia.
A procumbent evergreen shrub, much-branched, forming low tufts 3 to 6 in. high; branches tortuous, very leafy, glabrous, rooting freely along the ground. Leaves opposite, oval or oblong, 1⁄8 to 1⁄3 in. long, scarcely half as wide, with the margins so much recurved as almost to hide the undersurface, glabrous and dark glossy green above, glabrous or sometimes with a whitish mealy down beneath; stalk one-fourth to half as long as the blade. Flowers rosy or nearly white, about 1⁄4 in. in diameter, produced in May in short terminal clusters, two to five together. Corolla erect, bell-shaped, with five lobes. Calyx with five deep lobes half as long as the corolla. Stamens five, shorter than the corolla. Seed-vessel a dry capsule, with two or three divisions, many-seeded.
Formerly placed in the monotypic genus Loiseleuria, this species bears some resemblance to Kalmia buxifolia (syn. Leiophyllum buxifolium) but is distinguished by its united petals and by its five (not ten) stamens, included in the corolla. Linnaeus described this species in his genus Azalea (now included in Rhododendron) but this species differs from Rhododendron in its opposite leaves and in having anthers that open by slits, not pores.
Native of the Alpine summits and sub-arctic regions of the three northern continents, and the only species known. Found on the Scottish highlands. It needs a peaty soil. In the south of England it does not thrive well; the summer is usually too hot and dry for it. Some cool damp spot on the lower part of the rock garden should be selected for it.