MountainLaurel the Lavendog

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MountainLaurel
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14 Mar 2024
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Kalmia latifolia, the mountain laurel, calico-bush, or spoonwood, is a flowering plant and one of the 10 species in the genus of Kalmia belonging to the heath(er) family Ericaceae. It is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretches from southern Maine 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.

Kalmia latifolia is an evergreen shrub growing 3–9 m (9.8–29.5 ft) tall. The leaves are 3–12 cm long and 1–4 cm wide. The flowers are hexagonal, sometimes appearing to be pentagonal, ranging from light pink to white, and occur in clusters. There are several named cultivars that have darker shades of pink, red and maroon. It blooms in May and June. All parts of the plant are poisonous. The roots are fibrous and matted.

Kalmia latifolia is also known as ivybush or spoonwood (because Native Americans used to make their spoons out of it).

The plant was first recorded in America in 1624, but it was named after the Finnish explorer and botanist Pehr Kalm (1716–1779), who sent samples to Linnaeus.

The Latin specific epithet latifolia means "with broad leaves" – as opposed to its sister species Kalmia angustifolia, "with narrow leaves".

Despite the name "mountain laurel", Kalmia latifolia is not closely related to the true laurels of the family Lauraceae.

About Lavendog Eggs

Spring has finally come and now you begin to smell a really pleasant scent around the gardens, like a sweet combination of lavenders, petrichor, and fresh milk... oh wait, what's this? An egg?

Lavendog eggs are well known for smelling really pleasant around the very beginning of spring, so if you began to smell something pleasant before the flowers even bloomed, expect it to be a Lavendog egg. However, the egg will become scentless in the other seasons, which makes even a slight whiff of the egg's scent a very rare and valuable thing for some people.

Lavendogs are also known for usually putting their eggs in the middle of gardens, so each time you come to your garden during early spring, look for a pleasant surprise!

About the Lavendog Creature

You're frolicking around in your well-tended garden when you suddenly catch sight of a whimsical little creature with a nice scent.... well, that's a Lavendog.

Like their eggs, Lavendogs also have a really pleasant scent reminiscent of lavenders, petrichor, and fresh milk but this time, it's permanent! If you pick a fallen petal from a Lavendog's body, it retains the scent from the body, which is why people keep it as either potpourri or an ingredient for perfumes. Their body scent is also very useful to calm down other creatures, so that's why they're often the popular choice for aromatherapy.

They usually only appear in Ark during spring, but may visit a well-tended garden even outside of spring. Both that and their calm and whimsical demeanor makes them be revered to as either demigods or nature spirits by some villages.