ERIA 



ERICA 



1129 



collections of botanic gardens and fanciers, being mostly 

 curious and botanical rather than beautiful. They 

 require warmhouse treatment, after the manner of 

 stanhopeas. 



ERIANTHUS (Greek, erion, wool, and anthos, a 

 flower). Gramineas. PLUME-GRASS. Tall reed-like 

 ornamental perennials with large woolly plume-like 

 inflorescence. 



Spikelets in pairs, one sessile, the other pedicellate, 

 as in Andropogon, arranged in spikes, and these in a 

 large terminal panicle, clothed with long hairs, especi- 

 ally around the base, the fertile lemma awned. Spe- 

 cies about 18, warmer regions of both hemispheres. 



Ravennae, Beauv. PLUME-GRASS. RAVENNA-GRASS. 

 HARDY PAMPAS-GRASS. Fig. 1410. Three to 12 ft.: 

 blades J^in. wide, narrowed into a firm rough point: 

 panicle or plume as much as 2 ft. long. S. Eu. Gn. 54, p. 

 496. R.H. 1890, p. 546. V. 3 : 247 .This 

 is one of the best of the stout and tall 

 perennial grasses. It thrives in light 

 and open places in well-drained soils, 

 and makes great clumps, when well 

 established sometimes producing as 

 many as 40 or 50 heads. Hardy in 

 latitude of New York City. 



A. S. HITCHCOCK. 



ERICA (practically meaningless ; 

 probably not from ereiko, to break, as 

 commonly stated). Ericaceae. HEATH. 

 This is the genus that the gardener 

 usually means by "heath." The heath 

 or heather of English literature and 

 history belongs to the closely allied 

 genus Calluna. The next most impor- 

 tant group of cultivated "heaths" is 

 Epacris, which, however, belongs to a 

 different family. 



Ericas are perennial woody plants 

 from 6 in. to 12 ft. or more, usually 

 much branched : Ivs. in whorls of 3-6, 

 very rarely flat, usually 3-sided and 

 with revolute margins that are some- 

 times connate with the under side : infl. 

 usually terminal or sometimes axillary, 

 very seldom actually, though often 

 apparently, racemose; calyx free, 4- 

 parted ; corolla hypogynous, white, rosy 

 or sometimes yellow, usually early 

 deciduous, variously shaped, the com- 

 monest forms (in cult.) being bell- 

 shaped, tubular and ventricose, usually 

 4-lobed; stamens 8; ovary sessile or 

 rarely stalked, 4-celled, rarely 8-celled, 

 with 2-oo ovules in each cell: fr. a 

 4-valved caps., with minute seeds. 

 About 500 species, mostly from S. Afr. 

 and the Medit. region, nine-tenths from 

 the former. There are many hybrids and horticultural 

 forms. So far as the S. African species are concerned, 

 the latest monograph is that of Guthrie and Bolus, 

 which has served as the basis for the treatment 

 below. 



Only a few of the European heaths are hardy in 

 America, and there are no native heaths at all in this 

 hemisphere. Of about fourteen kinds of Erica grown 

 outdoors in Europe to produce large showy masses, 

 only three are hardy here, and it is safest to cover 

 these with evergreen boughs in winter. Two others (E. 

 mediterrcmea and E. lusitanica) are grown under glass 

 somewhat but they are probably hardy, with protection, 

 from New York southward. The tree heath of southern 

 Europe (E. arborea) will probably never be a feature 

 of our southern landscapes. The heath that is natu- 

 ralized in places from Rhode Island to Newfoundland 



1410. Erianthus Ravennse. 



is Calluna vulgaris (which see) ; and this is sometimes 

 advertised as Erica vulgaris. 



The halcyon days of the heaths were from about 1806 

 (when the English took the Cape of Good Hope) until 

 the middle of the century. Andrews' colored engrav- 

 ings of heaths (1809) marks the first flush of their 

 popularity. Practically, if not absolutely, all the 

 heaths that are grown on a large scale have been 

 developed from the South African species. The old 

 English gardeners still lament the glorious days when 

 the hard-wooded plants of Australia and the Cape 

 formed the chief feature of European indoor horti- 

 culture. They complain that the pres- 

 ent generation is not willing to give 

 them the care they deserve. This is 

 especially true of America. In America, 

 heaths are of minor importance, even 

 at Easter, and the kind grown most 

 extensively for Christmas seems to be 

 E. melanthera. 



The great trouble with heaths is the 

 immense amount of care they need. 

 Few, if any, classes of plants require 

 more attention. Hence the growing of 

 heaths for the market is extremely 

 specialized, and there the American 

 retail catalogues only rarely offer more 

 than one species. Nevertheless, all the 

 kinds described below are grown com- 

 mercially, and are of the first impor- 

 tance in the genus. The stock is largely 

 imported from England. Germany has 

 a very different set of varieties, and 

 France still another, and there are few 

 cases among cultivated plants showing 

 so great a difference in the three coun- 

 tries. The risks of importation are 

 considerable, and the tendencies toward 

 American independence in this line 

 seem to be gaining. Another difficulty 

 in heath-culture is the poor quality of 

 peat obtainable in America. In Eng- 

 land the peat is more fibrous, and has 

 been formed in past ages largely by 

 the decay of the native heather. 



The soft-wooded kinds are the ones 

 most grown. The hard-wooded sorts 

 require a longer period of growth and 

 more thorough ripening of the wood. 

 Apparently only one yellow-flowered 

 heath is cultivated in America, E. 

 Cavendishiana which is a hybrid species 

 about which little is known. See sup- 

 plementary list (p. 1132). 



In general, the ericas do not grow- 

 well in this climate on account of the 

 extreme heat of the summer months, 

 but some varieties grow and flower 

 even better here than in Europe. The 

 choice of the soil is very important. A light peat, 

 mixed with sharp coarse sand is about the best we 

 can get here. After flowering, the plants should 

 always be cut down to keep them bushy at the base 

 and well shaped. They will then receive a good 

 repotting, always using very clean pots and plenty 

 of drainage. Cuttings are made from December to 

 April, preferably from young plants, the tender shoots 

 about 1 inch in length being best. These are planted 

 firmly in a pan filled with clean fine sand ; and covered 

 with a bell-glass, or in a box covered tightly with a 

 pane of glass. Bottom heat is not necessary. When 

 rooted, the cuttings should be potted in small pots, 

 and when well started should be given as much air as 

 possible. It is well to bring the ericas out of the green- 

 house as early in the spring as possible. The pots should 

 be plunged in a good location, where plenty of air and 



