HEATH TRIBE 



183 



deepens to a delicate blush ; the whole flower appearing as if it had 

 been modelled in wax. It is sometimes found of a pure white. 

 Peaty moors, abundant. Fl. July, August, with occasional blooms 

 throughout the autumn. Shrub. 



2. E. cinerea (Fine-leaved Heath, Bell Heather). Leaves in threes, 

 narrow, smooth ; flowers egg-shaped, in irregular, whorled, leaf} 

 clusters. This and No. 1 are the only Heaths which can be called 

 common. It is a bushy plant, with tough, wiry stems, exceedingly 

 narrow leaves, and numerous oblong purple flowers, which form 

 broken, leafy clusters, not confined to one side of the stem. The 

 flowers are sometimes white. Heaths, abundant. Fl. July, 

 August. Shrub. 



3. E. vagans (Cornish Heath). Stems much 

 branched, and, in the upper parts, very leafy, 

 2-4 feet high ; leaves 3-5 in a whorl, crowded, 

 very narrow, smooth ; flowers bell-shaped, shorter 

 than the stamens, forming a leafy, irregular, taper- 

 ing cluster, light purple, rose-coloured, or white. 

 In the purple variety the anthers are dark purple ; in 

 the white, bright red ; and in all cases they form a 

 ring outside the corolla until they have shed their 

 pollen, when they droop to the sides. Abundant on 

 various heaths in Cornwall ; and on the Goonhilley 

 Downs, in Cornwall, all three varieties of this Heath 

 grow together in the greatest profusion, covering 

 many thousands of acres, and almost excluding the 

 two species so common elsewhere. Fl. July to Sep- 

 tember. Shrub. 



Erica Vagans 

 (Cornish Heath) 



4. E. Mediterranea (Mediterranean Heath). Dis- 

 tinguished by its coloured calyx and flesh-pink corolla ; 

 the leaves are four in a whorl ; anthers only slightly 

 protruding from mouth of corolla. Cultivated in Great Britain, 

 and found wild in Connemara. Fl. April, May. Shrub. 



5. E. ciliaris (Ciliated Heath). By far the most beautiful of all 

 the British species ; the leaves are four in a whorl ; and the flowers, 

 which are bright purple and half an inch long, grow in terminal, 

 interrupted, spike-like clusters. Sandy heaths ; of local occurrence 

 in Dorset and Cornwall, though where found often very abundant. 

 Fl. June to September. 



A variety of E. Tetralix, known as E. Mackaiana, is found in 

 Connemara. It differs in being more bushy, with broader leaves 

 and more numerous heads of smaller flowers. 



