mountain laurel

American  

noun

1. a North American laurel, Kalmia latifolia, having terminal clusters of rose to white flowers: the state flower of Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

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mountain laurel British  

noun

1. Also called: calico bush.  any of various ericaceous shrubs or trees of the genus Kalmia, esp K. latifolia of E North America, which has leathery poisonous leaves and clusters of pink or white flowers

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Etymology

Origin of mountain laurel

An Americanism dating back to 1750–60

Example Sentences

The album is named Laurel Hell, after a folk term for areas of the southern Appalachians, where the mountain laurel grows so close and thickly that it is almost impossible to pass.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2022

He pushed through the pain and we eventually hiked 55 miles through a tunnel of flowering rhododendron and mountain laurel.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2021

Hebrew for “peak”, Pisgah’s half-million acres stretch up the highest summits in the east, and down potpourri valleys that bloom pink and white in summer with rhododendron and mountain laurel.

From The Guardian • May 25, 2018

Okay, let’s do it,” he said in his deep Southern drawl and started following the trail, slick from the previous night’s heavy rains, past thick branches of mountain laurel with pink-tinged white blossoms.

From Washington Post • Sep. 25, 2015

Peonies and flag lilies and poppies were blooming in people’s yards, and roses and sweet William, mountain laurel and bleeding heart.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns