208 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES HEATHS 



of the common heath, as well as of three other native species, 

 abound in honey, and are much frequented by bees ; and it is 

 the custom of bee-keepers in many parts, about the month of 

 Auo-ust, to convey their hives to the heath districts and to remain 

 during the flowering season. The honey produced is dark, and 

 of a peculiar flavour. 



Heaths, a common name for the species of Erica, the type 

 of the family Ericaceae. They consist of small bushy shrubs, 

 seldom exceeding 6 to 8 feet high, all having small leaves, and 

 various-coloured, tubular, globose, urceolate or campanulate 

 flowers. About 500 species are described in books ; but many 

 are hybrids raised in gardens in this country, some of which are 

 of extreme beauty, and prizes are offered for the best cultivated 

 and the most showy at horticultural exhibitions. The greater 

 mass of the species are natives of South Africa, of which about 

 200 were cultivated at Kew a few years ago. They are sparingly 

 represented in the northern hemisphere, ten being found in 

 Europe, of which six are native of Britain, and two extend to 

 Western Syria, one only being found in North America. In 

 Algeria E. arhorea and E.midtiflora are common on the mountains. 



Hedgehog Thistle, the common name of a considerable 

 number of species forming the section or genus Echinocactus of 

 the Cactus family (Cactaceae). The greater number are natives 

 of Mexico. Their stems consist of round or oblonc^ masses of 



o 



succulent matter, with numerous ridges, on which are produced 

 many clusters of straight or crooked spines of various sizes. 

 In 1846 two plants were received at Kew from St. Luis Potosi, 

 in Mexico, one measuring 4|- feet in height, and 2| feet in 

 diameter, weighing 713 lbs. ; the other 9 feet in height, rather 

 more than 3 feet in diameter, and weidnnGj about one ton. This 

 species has received the name of E. xisnaga, on account of its 

 stiff spines having been used as tooth-picks. It is calculated 

 that the number of spines on the smaller plant was 17,600, and 

 on the larger 51,000. An allied species is E. Staincsi, of which 

 plants were received at Kew 4 to 5 feet high. In the high 

 plains of Mexico, where water is scarce, the Echinocacti supply 



