CALLUNA 281 



CALLUNA VULGARIS, Salisbury. HEATHER, LING. ERICACEAE. 



(Erica vulgaris, Linnceus.') 



An evergreen shrub up to 3 ft. high (usually from 9 to 24 ins.), of 

 straggling habit, much branched; branches densely leafy, and either 

 downy or smooth. Leaves opposite, arranged in four rows, giving a 

 quadrangular shape to the twig, $ to T V in. long, closely packed and 

 scale-like. Flowers in slender, one-sided racemes, i to 6, or as much as 

 12 ins. long, purplish pink, varying in depth of shade in different plants. 

 The calyx is the chief ornamental part of the flower, and consists of four 

 nearly separate, narrowly oval sepals T \ in. long; the corolla is about 

 half as long. Stamens eight. 



This is the shrub which covers so many thousands of acres of the 

 moors and mountains of the north of England and Scotland, and makes 

 them so beautiful in late summer and autumn. Among native woody 

 plants it is the most abundant and covers the greatest area. In good soil 

 it is apt to grow too quickly and become gaunt and bare, and short-lived; 

 this can be remedied to some extent by cutting over the plants in early 

 spring before growth recommences and removing all the old flower-stems. 

 A poor soil, with peat mixed, keeps the plants dwarf and in better 

 habit. The named varieties, of which there are many, are increased by 

 cuttings or by division. They are useful for planting in masses on dry 

 banks, which, with a little attention at first to weeding and perhaps 

 watering, they will soon take complete possession of, giving beautiful 

 patches of colour from July onwards for many years. Calluna, of which 

 there is only this species, differs chiefly from Erica in the large, coloured 

 calyx with four tiny bracts at its base, which is sometimes known as 

 the "outer calyx." 



Bees are particularly fond of the flowers, and the honey they give 

 is regarded as of special quality. In my native village in Yorkshire it 

 used to be, and probably still is, the practice for the beehives of the 

 cottagers to be laden on vans and taken every summer to the moors, ten 

 or more miles away, for 'the bees to collect honey there from the heather. 

 They were brought back in autumn. Branches of heather are much 

 used in the north also for making besoms in the same way that birch 

 twigs are used in the south. 



Many varieties have been named, of which the following are a 

 selection. For the descriptive notes I am indebted to Mr Smith of the 

 Darley Dale nurseries, near Matlock an establishment famous for hardy 

 heaths of all kinds : 



Var. ALBA. Medium growth ; foliage light green ; flowers white. 



Var. ALBA AUREA. Dwarf; foliage golden ; flowers white. 



Var. ALBA MINOR. Rather dwarf; flowers white. 



Var. ALBA PILOSA. Tall ; foliage greyish ; flowers white. 



Var. ALBA PUMILA. Dwarf; flowers white. 



Var. ALBA RIGIDA. Dwarf; leaves green, blunt ; flowers white. 



Var. ALBA SERLEI. Tall ; growth feathery ; flowers white. 



Var. ALBA TENELLA. Tall, straggly ; white. 



Var. ALPORTII. Tall ; foliage dark or greyish ; flowers crimson. 



