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Bog Laurel, Kalmia polifolia Wang.
Ericaceae

Height: A low, slender-stemmed evergreen shrub. Stems are smooth and two-ridged.

Leaves: Opposite, linear to elliptical, usually blunt at the tip, leathery shiny, dark green above, whitened or yellowish beneath with small hairs and 1.5-3 cm long. Margins are entire and revolute. The midvein is depressed above and prominent beneath.

Flowers: Deep pink, in few flowered terminal clusters (corymbiform racemes) arising from among many leaf-like bracts. Corolla is saucer-shaped, 5-lobed, and about 1.3 cm across. The flower stalks are smooth. There are 10 stamens and arranged like those of lambkill. Blooms in June. A white flowering form, leucantha Schofield and Smith, has been reported from Newfoundland.

Fruit: Oval, upright, 5-parted red capsules about 5 mm long, containing many small seeds. Ripen in August.

Habitat: Found in bogs, fens and wet heaths throughout Newfoundland and most of Labrador.

Source: Native Trees and Shrubs
of Newfoundland and Labrador
By A. Glen Ryan
Used with permission from:
Parks and Natural Areas Division
Department of Environment and Conservation
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 1995