Kalmia Latifolia

The mountain laurel of eastern North America, traditionally used in homoeopathy for rheumatic pains that shift and shoot downwards, and for a fluttering heart.

Kalmia latifolia is the mountain laurel, an evergreen shrub of the rocky woods of eastern North America, with glossy leaves and clusters of pink and white cup-shaped flowers. It is the state flower of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Its leaves are poisonous; homoeopathy uses them only in specially prepared form.

Homoeopathy knows it as a remedy for rheumatic and nerve pains that move quickly from place to place and shoot downwards, often with numbness. It is also traditionally associated with the heart: a fluttering heart with anxiety, palpitations and a slow pulse, often alongside such pains.

• Shifting rheumatic pains
• Downward-shooting pains
• Fluttering heart
• Slow pulse