546 



ERICA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



pieces and replanting at once any time 

 from October to April. 



E. ARBOREA (Tree Heath}. A tall and 

 graceful shrub of Southern Europe, N. Africa 

 and the Canary islands ; white flowered, and 

 covering vast areas in the upland woods of 

 Oak or other trees, attaining a height of 12 

 feet or more in N. Africa, and in the Canaries 

 becoming a tree. This Heath is tender in 

 Britain generally, but may be grown in 

 southern and warm districts and on warm 

 soil in sheltered valleys near the sea with its 

 friendly warmth. 



E. AUSTRALIS (Southern Heath]. A pretty 

 bush Heath of the sandy hills and wastes of 

 Spain and Portugal, 2 feet to 3 feet high, 

 flowering in spring in Britain. The flowers 

 are rosy purple and fragrant. It deserves a 

 place in heathy soils and sheltered places near 

 the coast. 



E. CARNEA (Alpine Forest Heath}. A 

 jewel among mountain Heaths and hardy as 

 the rock Lichen. On many ranges of Central 

 Europe at rest in the snow in winter, in our 

 mild winters it flowers in January in the south, 

 and in all districts is in bloom in the dawn 

 of spring deep rosy flowers, carpeting the 

 ground, the leaves and all good in colour. 

 There are one or two varieties, one white. 

 This Heath is not averse to loamy soils, and 

 often thrives on them as well as on peat soil. 

 Syn., E. herbacea. 



E. CINEREA (Scotch Heath). A dwarf and 

 pretty Heath common in many parts of Britain, 

 and particularly Scotland, very easily grown, 

 and has pretty varieties of white and various 

 colours. Its flowers of reddish purple begin 

 to expand early in June. Among its varieties 

 are alba, bicolor, coccinea, pallida, purpurea, 

 and rosea. 



E. CILIARIS (Dorset Heath). A lovely 

 dwarf Heath, and as pretty as any Heath of 

 Europe. A native of Western France and 

 Spain in heaths and sandy woods it also 

 comes into Southern England, and is hardy 

 further north than the districts it inhabits 

 naturally. The flowers are of a purple - 

 crimson, and fade away into a pretty brown. 

 It is neat in habit and excellent in every way, 

 thriving also in loamy as well as in peaty soils, 

 and flowering from June to October. 



E. HYBRIUA (Hybrid Heath}. A cross 

 between E. carnea and E. mediterranea. It is 

 a remarkable plant and flowers through the 

 winter and far into the spring, thriving in 

 loamy soil almost as well as in peat, and 

 is excellent as a ground work below Azaleas. 



E. HIBERNICA (Irish Heath). Mr. Boswell 

 Syme, whose knowledge of British plants was 

 most profound, considered this Irish plant dis- 

 tinct from the Mediterranean Heath, "the flower- 

 ing not taking place in the Irish plant till three 

 or four months after the Mediterranean Heath ; ; ' 

 a fine shrub in Mayo and Galway, growing 

 from 2 to 5 feet high. 



E. LUSITANICA (Portuguese Heath). This 

 is for Britain the most precious of the taller 

 Heaths, 2 to 4 feet high, and, hardier than 



the Tree Heath, it may be grown over a larger 

 area. Even in a cool district I have had it 

 in a loamy soil ten years, and almost every 

 year it bears lovely wreaths of flowers in mid- 

 winter, white flowers with a little touch of pink, 

 in fine long Foxbrush-like shoots. In about 

 one year in five it is cut down by frost, but 

 usually recovers. This would probably perish 

 in the north, but is a shrub of rare beauty 

 for sea coast and mild districts. Syn. E. 

 codonodes. 



E. MEDITERRANEA (Mediterranean Heath}. 

 A bushy kind, 3 to 5 feet high, best in peat, 

 and flowering prettily in spring. Although 



Erigeron speciosus. 



a native of Southern Europe, it is hardier in 

 our country than the Tree Heaths of Southern 

 Europe. Of this species there are several 

 varieties. 



E. STRICTA (Corsican Heath}. A wiry- 

 looking shrub, compact in habit, about 4 

 feet high, and a handsome plant. A native 

 of the mountains of Corsica, flowering in 

 summer. 



E. SCOPARIA (Broom Heath}. A tall and 

 wiry-looking Heath, reaching 8 feet or more 

 in our country, flowering in summer, not 

 showy. I have seen this in cold parts of 

 France (Sologne), and it is hardier than most 



