What is "mountain laurel"

Kalmia \Kal"mi*a\, n. [NL. Named in honor of Peter Kalm, a Swedish botanist.] (Bot.) A genus of North American shrubs with poisonous evergreen foliage and corymbs of showy flowers. Called also mountain laurel, ivy bush, lamb kill, calico bush, etc.

n. A flowering evergreen shrub, ''Kalmia latifolia'', in the family Ericaceae, native to the eastern United States, all parts of which are toxic, the state tree of Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

1. n. a North American evergreen shrub having glossy leaves and white or rose-colored flowers [syn: wood laurel, American laurel, calico bush, Kalmia latifolia]

2. Pacific coast tree having aromatic foliage and small umbellate flowers followed by olivelike fruit; yields a hard tough wood [syn: California laurel, California bay tree, Oregon myrtle, pepperwood, spice tree, sassafras laurel, California olive, Umbellularia californica]

Mountain Laurel or mountain laurel may refer to: