0125 



HEATH 



Family: ERICACEAE. 



Reproductive system: OCTANDRY, MONOGYNY. 



The tree heath, Erica arborea, LINN., is quite a common tree in southern 

 Provence; it's an ornamental in conservatories in northern France in early spring. Its 

 trunk is five or six feet tall. The leaves are small and narrow, arranged in threes or fours 

 along the branches. The flowers are white or light pink; they're arranged in small lateral 

 clusters. The calyx is four-lobed. The corolla, rather elongated, is bell-shaped and 

 terminates in four points. The stamens do not extend beyond the corolla's tube. The ovary 

 is superior; it turns into a capsule with a lot of seeds. 



FLOWERS: from February to May. 



RANGE: Provence and Languedoc. 



NOMENCLATURE. Erica seems to be derived from a Greek word meaning to 

 break, because according to Pliny, several kinds of heather were reputed to be able to 

 dissolve kidney stones. 



The winter heath, Erica herbacea, LINK, despite its species name, assigned 

 because its flowers are greenish in autumn, has a woody stem like that of other heathers. 

 They are a pleasant pink color in spring, which earned the plant another name, flesh- 

 colored heath, as though it were no longer the same one. The leaves are whorled in fours. 

 The flowers, on a short peduncle and located at the axillae of the upper leaves, frequently 

 point away from the outer side of the branch that they're on. The calyx has four leaflets. 

 The corolla is monopetalous, with four rather inconspicuous lobes. The eight stamens are 

 longer than the corolla. The ovary is topped by a style that's even longer than the 

 stamens. 



