Western swamp laurel

Kalmia occidentalis Small in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 29: 53. 1914; K. microphylla subsp. occidentalis (Small) Roy L. Taylor & MacBryde

Shrubs not compact, 0.2-0.6 (-0.8) m; twig nodes mostly 1+ cm apart. Leaf blades lanceolate, 2-4 cm, 2.5-4 times as long as wide. Flowers: calyx light pink, 7-10 mm diam.; corolla rose-purple, 15-20 mm diam.

Flowering Apr-Jun. Open bogs, wet meadows; 0-900 m; B.C.; Alaska, Oreg., Wash.

Variety occidentalis and Kalmia polifolia are strikingly similar. Both have the same general habit and size and are very similar in most morphological characteristics. These taxa are easily separated by the revolute leaf margins and small stalked glands along the leaf midrib in K. polifolia, which are lacking in var. occidentalis (J. E. Ebinger 1974). Hybrids between them are sterile (R. A. Jaynes 1988).