# Sand Myrtle (Kalmia buxifolia) > A low, dense evergreen with tiny glossy leaves that turn bronze in winter, smothered in pink buds and white starry flowers in spring. Also called sandmyrtle, mountain myrtle, Leiophyllum buxifolium. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sand-myrtle/ ![Sand myrtle (Kalmia buxifolia) dense mat of glossy leaves covered in small white flowers](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/sand-myrtle-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Jason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASand-myrtle_-_Flickr_-_pellaea_%282%29.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 1 to 3 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 6 to 8 - Grows wild in: Rocky ground, sandy barrens and the Appalachians - Native range: 7 states, north to Pennsylvania, south to Georgia and west to Tennessee (Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee) - Sun: Part, Full - Soil moisture: Average - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Evergreen, Showy flowers, Rare, Winter interest - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Sand myrtle is a small evergreen shrub of two worlds: the rock outcrops and summits of the southern Appalachians, and the sandy pine barrens of the Carolina coastal plain and New Jersey. Long kept in its own genus, Leiophyllum, it is now placed with our mountain laurel in Kalmia. Its tiny, glossy leaves turn bronze-red in winter, and its pink buds open to white, starry flowers with pink-tipped stamens. Georgia lists it as threatened, and it is gone from Pennsylvania. Use it as a low, slow evergreen at the front of a border or in a rock garden, where its spring bloom can be seen up close. ## Size, growth and what to expect Sand myrtle grows slowly, and our growth estimator treats it as slow, about a foot a year. It makes a dense, rounded shrub 18 inches to 3 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide, and on exposed rock it can lie nearly flat. Crowded clusters of 6 to 8 small flowers open at the branch tips from late March into June, rosy pink in the bud and white when open. Each is about a quarter inch across, with ten spreading stamens tipped in pink. The small capsules ripen in September and October. It grows wild on mountain rock outcrops and summits in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, and on a few Piedmont monadnocks. It also grows in sandy pinelands, sandhills and pocosins of the Carolina coastal plain and the New Jersey Pine Barrens. ## How to grow Sand Myrtle Sand myrtle does best in part shade, and it takes sun where the soil stays moist. It needs a moist, acid soil that drains well, sandy or peaty and rich in organic matter. It does not stand drought or soggy ground. Set plants 4 feet apart and keep them 3 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in spring or fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch with pine needles each spring to hold the moisture. The seed is tiny and wants a mist tent or a clear cover. Sow it on the surface of a moist, acid mix at room temperature, uncovered, in good light. Seed of its relative sheep laurel needs no chilling. Water through dry spells in the first two summers. Its low branches root where they touch the soil, so it slowly thickens into a mat. Prune only after flowering, since next year's flowers form on old growth. Each flower carries both male and female parts, and small bees, honeybees and flies pollinate it. Its close relative Carolina bog laurel sets fruit with its own pollen, so one plant should bear seed alone. No serious pests or diseases trouble it. Its relatives mountain laurel and sheep laurel are highly poisonous if eaten, so treat it the same and keep it from grazing animals. ## Sources - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Kalmia buxifolia](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/kalmia-buxifolia/) - [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Kalmia buxifolia](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065674) - [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Sand Myrtle](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=17441) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Leiophyllum buxifolium](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LEBU) - [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society), from Bean: Kalmia buxifolia](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/kalmia/kalmia-buxifolia/) - [North Carolina Native Plant Society: Kalmia buxifolia](https://plants.ncwildflower.org/plant_galleries/details/kalmia-buxifolia) - [NatureServe Explorer: Kalmia buxifolia](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.147866/Kalmia_buxifolia) - [Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program: Species and Natural Features List](https://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/SpeciesFeatures.aspx) - [Baskin and Baskin 2002, propagation protocol for Kalmia angustifolia, Native Plant Network](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=ericaceae-kalmia-1950) - [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Kalmia, the genus treatment](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=116931) - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Kalmia latifolia and Kalmia angustifolia](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/kalmia-latifolia/) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Sand Myrtle, add ?species=sand-myrtle with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=sand-myrtle&zone=6&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Sand Myrtle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=sand-myrtle): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=sand-myrtle - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Sand Myrtle is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=sand-myrtle - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Sand Myrtle needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=sand-myrtle:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Sand Myrtle flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.