Kalmia hirsuta
Kalmia hirsuta
Found in pine savannas and pine flatwoods. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
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Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 4 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Who uses this plant?
19CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Kalmia
- Acleris maculidorsanaStained-Back Leafroller Moth
- Archips georgianaFireworm, Georgia Leafroller
- Argyrotaenia marianaGray-Banded Leafroller Moth
- Callophrys augustinusThe Brown Elfin
- Callosamia prometheaPromethea Silkmoth, Promethea Moth
- Darapsa choerilusAzalea Sphinx
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Morrisonia evictaBicolored Woodgrain
- Nemoria rubrifrontariaRed-Fronted Emerald
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
Show all 19
- Papilio palamedesPalamedes Swallowtail
- Phlogophora periculosaBrown Angle Shades
- Prionapteryx nebuliferaClouded Veneer Moth
- Probole amicariaFriendly Probole
- Pseudexentera cressonianaShagbark Hickory Leafroller
- Sphinx kalmiaeFawn Sphinx, Laurel Sphinx
- Tetracis cachexiataWhite Slant-Line
- Cenopis karacana
- Paralobesia rhoifructana
6BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Kalmia
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
3Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Kalmia
- Andrena bradleyi
- Andrena kalmiae
- Colletes productus
3BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Kalmia
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Lagopus lagopusWillow Ptarmigan
- Lagopus leucuraWhite-tailed Ptarmigan
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- ERICACEAE
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Florida (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications