Kalmia buxifolia (Syn. Leiophyllum buxifolium)

Sometimes even those of us with a lust for the Far Reaches can find much to love close at hand. This is one of those extra special U.S. natives that makes us put aside if only for a moment our unchecked wanderlust. A close relative of the lauded mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, this takes the same sort of unusual Ericaceous charisma and shrinks it down. This former denizen of the monotypic genus Leiophyllum grows across an exquisitely disjunct range of 3 botanical wonderlands, the Blue Ridge mountains, Carolina coastal plains, and Pine Barrens. Its habit and substrate vary widely, but generally expect a small dense shrub of 1-3" with box-like leaves and a host of rosy buds opening to starry white and pink flowers in profusion. As with its familial brethren likes a fairly moist, rich, and acidic spot.