lambkill

or sheep laurel

Open, upright, woody shrub (Kalmia angustifolia) of the heath family. Growing 1–4 ft (0.3–1.2 m) high, it has glossy, leathery, evergreen leaves and showy pink to rose flowers. Like other Kalmia species (including mountain laurel) and other members of the heath family, it contains a poison (andromedotoxin). In northwestern North America, where these plants occur, livestock (especially sheep) that graze on nonfertile soils of abandoned pastures and meadows may ingest enough of the plant to become poisoned, potentially fatally.

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