About the Great Laurel
The Great Laurel is in the Ericaceae (Heath Family) and is a loose, open broadleaf evergreen with multiple trunks with branches that grow up and out. One thing that distinguished this plant from other rhododendron species is its dark blue-green leathery leaves which grow to be the largest of all native rhododendrons. In Connecticut, this plant grows up to 15 feet and can grow up to 40 feet in good conditions. The Great Laurel is usually found in wet woods and in swamps. It is native to the eastern United States from Alabama north to Nova Scotia.
This evergreen has showy bell-shaped flowers that appear in clusters of 15 to 25 blossoms in June-July. The flower size is 1 1/2 to 2 inches across and is pale pink to white with green or orange spots. Today this plant is often grown as an ornamental and is the hardest of all evergreen rhododendrons. This species responds to subfreezing temperatures in an interesting way. It curls and folds down its leaves in order to protect the shrub from the drying effects of cold air, making it one of nature's thermostats! This plant is clonal and can reproduce by layering and by seed generation.
Medicinal Uses
The Cherokee made a compound of this plant and use it as an analgesic in the form of a liniment for pain. They also make a poultice of the leaves of this plant that was used to treat headaches. An infusion of leaves is used to relieve the pain from scratches. In ceremonies, clumps of the leaves are thrown into a fire before dancing around it in order to bring about cold weather.
Honey made from flowers of this plant is toxic!
The wood from the Great Laurel is occasionally used for tool handles.
Another name for the Great Laurel is the Rosebay Rhododendron.
Rhododendron maximum is the state flower of West Virginia.
Another name for the Great Laurel is the Rosebay Rhododendron.
Rhododendron maximum is the state flower of West Virginia.
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