Mountain Laurel
State flower of Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Source of 'mad honey.' Read carefully before forwarding to your in-laws.
Kalmia latifolia is the state flower of both Pennsylvania and Connecticut, which makes it sound respectable. It is also one of several plants whose nectar produces grayanotoxin-laced “mad honey” — a substance the Greek historian Xenophon recorded knocking out an entire army in 401 BC, and which is still occasionally responsible for medical emergencies in honey-eating tourists. The flower’s stamens are spring-loaded; touch one and it catapults pollen at a visiting bee. Beautiful, decorated, and quietly armed. The print suits any wall where decorative flora are not assumed to be polite.
