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or two after the laurel blooms in the lower elevations of Rappahannock County. Try to time your visit so you will see the full beauty of massed mountain laurel blossoms. Because the mountain laurel is so dense along the trail here, you can actually smell the lovely scent of this plant.
Mountain Laurel
Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) was named for Peter Kalm, who was a Finnish botanist and a student of Carl Linnaeus. Linnaeus was the person who invented the naming system for plants. He sent Kalm to the New World in 1753 to collect plants, and Kalm studied the mountain laurel and collected live plants, which did not exist in Europe. Mark Catesby is also credited with discovering mountain laurel during his travels in the Carolinas and Virginia; he is said to have introduced it to Europe in 1726. The name latifolia means “wide leaf,” a character that differentiates this plant from five other species of Kalmia.
Kalm discovered the poisonous properties of the foliage when some sheep belonging to the expedition in which he travelled almost died after browsing the leaves, hence the name “lambkill.” Horses are susceptible to the poison, but deer seem not to be seriously affected. The whitetail deer in Shenandoah do not appear to like it, browsing this plant only when little else is available. Honey made from mountain laurel is also believed to be poisonous.
Native Americans used the wood of mountain laurel to make spoons. In fact, the name “spoonwood” has been used for this shrub. The wood carves nicely and the fine grain takes a good polish. The wood is also often gnarled so you can pick a place that bends the way you want your
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