Kara Ferraro
Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve

(7/2019) Lizzy pointed to me and asked, "What’s your favorite plant?" Caught off guard, I hesitated, thinking of all the houseplants in my dining room before awkwardly mumbling, "Aloe?" The spikey, long arms of my aloe plants dominate the room. "What about mountain laurel?" Lizzy teasingly asked. It’s no secret… I love mountain laurel.

Many people who live in this area love mountain laurel because it is nostalgic to them. After all, this beautiful evergreen plant is abundant in Pennsylvania and has been designated as the state’s flower since 1933. When this particular symbol was debated in the 1930s, the Pennsylvania General Assembly was so torn between which flower should represent the state that it sent the Governor bills naming two different flowers: the mountain laurel and the pink azalea.

Ultimately, then Governor Gifford Pinchot (and, according to some accounts, his wife) selected the mountain laurel, or Kalmia latifolia. Today, Pennsylvanians are as proud of the mountain laurel as they are of our native brook trout, or white-tailed deer (the eastern hellbender still needs time to grow on us).

Aside from its beauty, this plant became Pennsylvania’s state flower for a good reason: it is everywhere! Mountain laurel, azaleas, blueberries, and rhododendron, are all members of Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath family. Along with many members of this plant family, this broad-leafed evergreen shrub is well-established in Pennsylvania. Mountain laurel thrives in poor, acidic soils, allowing it to do particularly well throughout the Appalachian Mountain range and much of the eastern United States.

The Appalachian Trail is where I first noticed mountain laurel. Bob Frye, editor of Everybody Adventures, captures it perfectly in this statement: mountain laurel "just seems to like wilder places. To me, that has always made it a companion to adventure, whether hiking, backpacking, or camping." Bob encourages people to hit the trail to experience the "wicked beauty" of mountain laurel (more on the wicked part later).

As one gains elevation on the trail, there is an obvious transition between the river valleys (at about 320 feet above sea level) and the rocky ridgelines (at nearly 2,080 feet above sea level). The higher you hike, the drier the soil, resulting in different types of vegetation. Oak trees often make up the dominant tree species in these areas, and mountain laurel a prevailing shrub.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), "there is a persistent myth that the designation of state flower affords mountain laurel a protected status. This is not true. No one may remove any plant from public or private land without the landowner's or land manager's permission." However, there are no legal restrictions on the cultivation of mountain laurel.

While this evergreen shrub happily reproduces by seed in the wild, propagating mountain laurel is not an easy task. First, one must take a semi-hardwood cutting from mature wood grown earlier in the year, while ensuring that this cutting is free from insect damage or disease. The cutting must be stored in a location that receives indirect sunlight during the day, in a room kept between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Be sure to regularly mist your mountain laurel cutting for the first four to six months. You can first check for root formation approximately four months after you have potted the cutting in a mixture of equal parts perlite, coarse sand, and peat moss. Unfortunately, you will not really know if you have a viable cutting until roots have formed (or not) within those first six months.

If you have successfully propagated mountain laurel on your own, I would love to hear from you! Seriously, please give me a call. I only share the daunting task of propagation to prove a point… that sometimes it is just better to go plant shopping!

Earlier this year, my coworkers badgered me for calling around to local nurseries curiously inquiring about the different mountain laurel cultivars they carry. For those who, like myself, are not Master Gardeners, a cultivar is a plant variety that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding. This is done to develop plants with desirable characteristics, whether that is the color of the bloom, or quality of fruit a plant produces.

Nursery stock, which usually includes mountain laurel cultivars, is not only reliable, but provides variety. According to mountain laurel expert and horticulturist, Dr. Richard A. Jaynes, about eighty named cultivars exist. The range of blooms is incredible – from the bicolor "Galaxy" cultivar, which flaunts a five-petal-like lobe, to the striking white and red contrast of the "Peppermint" variety, which resembles a peppermint candy.

Do not be fooled by its candy-like appearance, mountain laurels are known for their poisonous potential. The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that, "after initial consumption, the victim will experience burning lips, mouth, and throat, followed six hours later by nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, low blood pressure, drowsiness, convulsions, weakness, and progressive paralysis, followed by coma and death."

Here is the wicked part I mentioned earlier: children have been poisoned by merely sucking on the flowers of this plant. Even honey made from mountain laurel pollen is toxic. As far back as the 1790s, there are written reports of people falling ill from pheasants who had fed on mountain laurel, and fatal poisonings from wild honey traced back to the plant.

At this point in my research I found myself thinking, are the deer in my yard drowsy, nauseous, and walking around with severe abdominal pain? After all, I have observed deer dining on both the mountain laurel and rhododendron around my house. Some people declare mountain laurel poisonous, while others label it deer resistant. I will let you delve into to this debate on your own, but the general understanding is that if deer are eating mountain laurel, food is scarce. Surprisingly, deer know when to stop eating so they do not suffer the side effects of poisoning.

In an article by Duane Diefenbach, published by Penn State College of Agriculture Sciences, "because these plants are consumed by deer only as a last resort, deer can actually promote the growth of these plants. By eating all the other plants, deer browsing eliminates the competition clearing the path for mountain laurel expansion."

Expansion sounds great to a mountain laurel-lover like myself. However, as with all good things in life and nature, balance is key. Ecological balance is important with any plant, animal, or insect because it ensures survival, existence, and stability of the environment. At Strawberry Hill, our naturalists spend a good bit of time educating the public about the components of a healthy ecosystem. I encourage you to visit our website, StrawberryHill.org, to view our lineup of environmental education programs available to you and your group.

If you are interested in learning more about mountain laurel and other native plants, I invite you to join Strawberry Hill board member and Adams County Master Gardener, Heather Wight, on our upcoming guided hike. This hike, which is part of Strawberry Hill’s free monthly series, will allow participants to explore the forest and identify native plants found in and around Pennsylvania.