ERICA 



523 



gardens, a form of E. vagans being usually made to do duty for it. The 

 two have been much confused by botanists, but E. multiflora is easily 

 distinguished by the anthers being only slightly notched at the top, whereas 

 in E. vagans they are slit to the base ; the sepals also are longer and narrower 

 than in E. vagans. 



E. SCOPARIA, 



Linnczus. BESOM 



HEATH. 



A shrub of loose, 

 uneven habit, as much 

 as 9 or 10 ft. high, its 

 branches erect and, 

 like the leaves, free 

 from down. Leaves 

 in whorls of threes 

 (sometimes fours), | 

 in. long, linear, 

 pointed, glossy dark 

 green. Flowers pro- 

 duced in May and 

 June, in clusters of 

 two to five, in the leaf- 

 axils, over almost the 

 whole of the preced- 

 ing year's growth. 

 Corolla greenish, ^ 

 in. long, globular". 

 Calyx and flower- 

 stalk quite smooth. 



Native of Central 

 and W. France, and 

 much used there for 

 making besoms. It 

 is perfectly hardy, and 

 is the tallest of the 

 heaths as they are 

 found in gardens near 

 London ; whilst its 

 habit is loose and ir- 

 regular, it is decidedly 

 elegant. It blossoms 

 with great freedom, 

 but the blossoms 

 are small and of no 

 great beauty, and it 

 is only for its beauty 

 of habit that it is desirable. 



Var. PUMILA (syn. var. nana) is a dwarf variety which I have not seen 

 over 2 ft. high. 



E. STRICTA, Andrews. 



(E. ramulosa, Viviani ; E. terminalis, Salisbury, Bot. Mag., t. 8063 ; 

 E. Corsica, De Candolle?) 



An erect shrub up to 8 or 9 ft. high, the branches covered with scarcely 

 perceptible down. Leaves arranged in whorls usually of fours, sometimes fives 



ERICA MEDITERRANEA. 



