kalmia

American  

[kal-mee-uh] / ˈkæl mi ə /

noun

1. any North American evergreen shrub belonging to the genus Kalmia, of the heath family, having showy flowers, as the mountain laurel.

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kalmia British  

/ ˈkælmɪə /

noun

1. any evergreen ericaceous shrub of the North American genus Kalmia, having showy clusters of white or pink flowers See also mountain laurel

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Etymology

Origin of kalmia

< New Latin (Linnaeus), after Peter Kalm (1715–79), Swedish botanist; see -ia

Example Sentences

I expressed my surprise that the leaves of the mountain laurel, the kalmia latifolia, which are so deadly to sheep, should be the winter food of the deer.

From Letters of a Traveller Notes of Things Seen in Europe and America by Bryant, William Cullen

The kalmia and the alder gave undergrowth and brilliancy to the foliage.

From The Entailed Hat Or, Patty Cannon's Times by Townsend, George Alfred

He replied, 'Madam, the kalmia has precisely the colours of a seraph's wing.'

From Evolution, Old & New Or, the Theories of Buffon, Dr. Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck, as compared with that of Charles Darwin by Butler, Samuel

On the borders of little streams larger plants flourish--lupines, daisies, asters, goldenrods, hairbell, mountain columbine, potentilla, astragalus and a few gentians; with charming heathworts--bryanthus, cassiope, kalmia, vaccinium in boulder-fringing rings or bank covers.

From The Yosemite by Muir, John

Many flowering and fruit-bearing shrubs of the heath family add to the beauty of the mountainous districts, rhododendron and kalmia often forming impenetrable thickets.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 3 "Apollodorus" to "Aral" by Various