Kalmia latifolia
speciesAt a glance
Sources16 archives
Databases and archives Kalmia latifolia's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation10 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility43 121 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI5 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics5 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
dukesphytochemcompounds
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
Paleobiology DatabasePBDB consortiumfossil record↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Kalmia latifolia, the mountain laurel, calico-bush, or spoonwood, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, that is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretches from southern Maine south to northern Florida, and west to Indiana and Louisiana. Mountain laurel is the state flower of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. It is the namesake of Laurel County in Kentucky, the city of Laurel, Mississippi, and the Laurel Highlands in southwestern Pennsylvania.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology5
Life cycle & reproduction26
Habitat & environment23
Physiology & chemistry26
Uses & economy15
Other traits7
Compounds documented for Kalmia latifolia across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile5 classes
Documented compounds67 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CARBOHYDRATES | 782,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| FIBER | 147,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| FAT | 95,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| PROTEIN | 87,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| ASH | 36,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| PHLORIDZIN | 27,000 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| CALCIUM | 9,600 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| PHOSPHORUS | 1,100 ppm | DukesPhytochem | |
| IRON | 50 ppm | DukesPhytochem |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Kalmia latifolia has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Kalmia latifolia carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 244×CCDB · nw-europe-fl · CCDB · eflora · CCDB · book-fedorov +1
n 122×CCDB · book-ipcn67-71 · CCDB · book-ipcn73-74
diploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
How it livedPBDB
Record type43 121 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions98 of 141 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Philadelphia, US | 470 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 300 |
| Bangkok, TH | 95 |
| College Park, US | 80 |
| Tuscaloosa, US | 78 |
| University of New Hampshirelocation not on record | 78 |
| Jena Microbial Resource Collectionlocation not on record | 69 |
| Williamsburg, US | 64 |
| Madison, US | 63 |
| Western Carolina Universitylocation not on record | 62 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 61 |
| Bronx, US | 61 |
| Philadelphia, US | 59 |
| Appalachian State Universitylocation not on record | 54 |
| New Haven, US | 51 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 50 |
| Allentown, US | 49 |
| New Brunswick, US | 48 |
| Burlington, US | 46 |
| Bloomington, US | 45 |
| Mississippi State, US | 35 |
| Jackson, US | 33 |
| Millersville, US | 28 |
| Knoxville, US | 27 |
| Morgantown, US | 26 |
| Lord Fairfax Community Collegelocation not on record | 26 |
| Clemson, US | 18 |
| Miami, US | 16 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 15 |
| US | 13 |
| Fredericksburg, US | 13 |
| Austin, US | 12 |
| Keene State Universitylocation not on record | 12 |
| GAlocation not on record | 11 |
| Saint Louis, US | 10 |
| Asheville, US | 10 |
| University of Tennessee at Chattanoogalocation not on record | 10 |
| Dover, US | 9 |
| Mohonk Preservelocation not on record | 9 |
| AUAlocation not on record | 9 |
| Tennessee Technological Universitylocation not on record | 9 |
| University of Southern Mississippilocation not on record | 9 |
| Norfolk, US | 9 |
| Johnson City, US | 8 |
| St. Paul, US | 8 |
| Columbia, US | 8 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 8 |
| Tall Timbers Research Stationlocation not on record | 7 |
| Dekalb, US | 7 |
| Richmond, US | 6 |
| Valdosta State Universitylocation not on record | 6 |
| Fairfax, US | 6 |
| Claremont, US | 6 |
| Riverside, US | 6 |
| Beijing, CN | 6 |
| Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record | 5 |
| DOI/NPS, Mississippi National River & Recreation Arealocation not on record | 5 |
| Santiago de Compostela, ES | 5 |
| Davenport, US | 5 |
| BAYLUlocation not on record | 5 |
| DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 5 |
| James F. Matthews Center for Biodiversity Studieslocation not on record | 5 |
| Vancouver, CA | 5 |
| Brookings, US | 4 |
| Tempe, US | 4 |
| Harrisonburg, US | 4 |
| Emporia, US | 4 |
| Denver, US | 4 |
| Durham, US | 4 |
| EL PASO, US | 4 |
| Edinburgh, GB | 3 |
| Staten Island, US | 3 |
| Little Rock, US | 3 |
| Fort Worth, US | 3 |
| Moscow, US | 3 |
| Pullman, US | 3 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 3 |
| Baltimore, US | 3 |
| Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preservelocation not on record | 3 |
| Tampa, US | 3 |
| San Angelo, US | 3 |
| Cheney, US | 3 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 3 |
| MAlocation not on record | 3 |
| Flagstaff, US | 3 |
| Fullerton, US | 2 |
| Pondicherry, IN | 2 |
| Santa Barbara, US | 2 |
| Auckland, NZ | 2 |
| Sanda, JP | 2 |
| Long Beach, US | 2 |
| Durham, US | 2 |
| China Agricultural Universitylocation not on record | 2 |
| Mexico City, MX | 2 |
| Hudson, US | 2 |
| Odawara, JP | 2 |
| Kew, GB | 2 |
| Wellington, NZ | 2 |
| Oswego, US | 2 |
| Chadron, US | 2 |
| Washington, US | 2 |
| Institute for Agricultural Bacteriology and Fermentation Biologylocation not on record | 2 |
| Chicago, US | 2 |
| Taipei, TW | 2 |
| Portland, US | 1 |
| Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record | 1 |
| Tilburg, NL | 1 |
| Entomological Society of Latvialocation not on record | 1 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Guelph, OAC Herbariumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Wlocation not on record | 1 |
| Black Rock Forest Consortiumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Cambridge, US | 1 |
| Bothell, US | 1 |
| Institut und Museum fuer Geologie und Palaeontologielocation not on record | 1 |
| San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record | 1 |
| JBRJlocation not on record | 1 |
| Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, (CSIC-UPF)location not on record | 1 |
| Pittsburg, US | 1 |
| Rotorua, NZ | 1 |
| Staatliches Museum fuer Naturkunde Karlsruhe (State Museum of Natural History)location not on record | 1 |
| US | 1 |
| Northridge, US | 1 |
| Barcelona, ES | 1 |
| University of North Carolina at Pembrokelocation not on record | 1 |
| Lincoln, US | 1 |
| Oskarshamn, SE | 1 |
| WTUlocation not on record | 1 |
| Henderson, US | 1 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Kingston, US | 1 |
| Due West, US | 1 |
| Logan, US | 1 |
| San Sebastián, ES | 1 |
| Waverly, US | 1 |
| Boise, US | 1 |
| Lubbock, US | 1 |
| Podgorica, ME | 1 |
| Chicago, US | 1 |
| J.F.Oberlin Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Acadia Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Kalmia latifolia was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.