Kalmiopsis
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| Kalmiopsis | ||||||||||||||
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| Kalmiopsis leachiana (Henderson) Rehd. |
Kalmiopsis (Kalmiopsis leachiana) is a rare flowering plant endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon, where it is specially protected in the 179,755-acre (727.4 km²) Kalmiopsis Wilderness reserve. It was discovered in 1930 by Lilla Leech in the Gold Basin area.[1] It is related to Kalmia in the family Ericaceae. It is an evergreen shrub growing to 10-30 cm tall, with erect stems bearing spirally arranged simple leaves 2-3 cm long and 1 cm broad. The flowers are pink-purple, in racemes of 6-9 together, reminiscent of small Rhododendron flowers but flatter, with a star-like calyx of five conjoined petals; each flower is 1.5-2 cm diameter. The fruit is a five-lobed capsule, which splits to release the numerous small seeds.
