or lambkill
Open upright woody shrub ( Kalmia angustifolia ) of the heath family .
Growing 14 ft (0.31.2 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.