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Carolina Laurel

Kalmia carolina

Found in pocosins and bay forests; mountain bogs and fens. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

77
Strong

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 82%

Height
Up to about 5 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to wet
Will it fit your yard?

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

Life cycle
Perennial
Fruiting season
September to October

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 7 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense low pocosin
Dense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 73 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

27CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Kalmia

  • Acleris maculidorsanaStained-Back Leafroller Moth
  • Acleris minutaLesser Apple Leaf Folder, Yellowheaded Fireworm
  • Archips georgianaFireworm, Georgia Leafroller
  • Argyrotaenia marianaGray-Banded Leafroller Moth
  • Callophrys augustinusThe Brown Elfin
  • Callosamia prometheaPromethea Silkmoth, Promethea Moth
  • Cladara limitariaMottled Gray Carpet, Yellow-Lined Conifer Looper, Yellow-Lined Forest Looper, Black-Angled Wave
  • Darapsa choerilusAzalea Sphinx
  • Eupithecia russeliataWhite-Lined Pug
  • Hemipachnobia monochromateaSundew Dart
Show all 27
  • Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
  • Morrisonia evictaBicolored Woodgrain
  • Nemoria rubrifrontariaRed-Fronted Emerald
  • Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
  • Papilio palamedesPalamedes Swallowtail
  • Phlogophora periculosaBrown Angle Shades
  • Prionapteryx nebuliferaClouded Veneer Moth
  • Probole amicariaFriendly Probole
  • Probole nepiasariaHeath Probole
  • Pseudexentera cressonianaShagbark Hickory Leafroller
  • Sphinx kalmiaeFawn Sphinx, Laurel Sphinx
  • Spiramater lutraDarling Mamestra, Splashed Arches, Otter Spiramater, Otter Arches
  • Synanthedon rhododendriRhododendron Borer
  • Tetracis cachexiataWhite Slant-Line
  • Acrobasis amplexella
  • Cenopis karacana
  • Paralobesia rhoifructana
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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
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
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Ericaceae
Flower color
White, pink or purple
Fruit begins
September
Fruit ends
October
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Kalmia angustifolia var. carolina

Conservation status

Virginia rankS2
Global rankG4 [G5]
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources