530 



THE HEATH FAMILY. 



5. Mediterranean Heath. Erica carnea, Linn. (Pig. 633.) 



(E. mediterranean Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2774.) 



Leaves in fours or rarely in threes, 

 linear but obtuse, firmer and thicker 

 than in the Scotch H. Flowers axil- 

 lary, forming leafy racemes either ter- 

 minal or below the ends of the branches. 

 Sepals linear-lanceolate and coloured. 

 Corolla narrow-ovoid, about 3 lines long, 

 of a reddish flesh-colour. Anthers pro- 

 truding slightly from the mouth of the 

 corolla, oblong, inserted by their lower 

 ends on somewhat flattened filaments, 

 without any appendages. 



The geographical range is different 

 from that of most Heaths, being scat- 

 tered here and there on the lower hills 

 along the great central range of Euro- 

 pean mountains, from Switzerland to the 

 Balkan, where it is usually, but not al- 

 ways, a rather low, almost straggling 

 shrub. Descending to the shores of the 

 Atlantic it is there more erect, with rather smaller flowers, a form con- 

 sidered by many as a distinct species, under the name of JE. Tnediter- 

 ranea. It reappears in some of the western counties of Ireland in a 

 form intermediate between the extreme Continental varieties. It is 

 not wild in Great Britain, but frequently cultivated in our gardens. 

 Fl. early spring. 



Fig. 633. 



6. Cornish Heath. Erica vagans, Linn. (Fig. 634.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 3.) 



A rather low species, the leaves linear, in fours or sometimes in 

 threes, as in the Mediterranean H, Flowers very numerous, axillary 

 on slender pedicels, forming terminal, oblong or elongated leafy ra- 

 cemes. Sepals short and obtuse. Corolla pink or almost white, ra- 

 ther small, campanulate when it first expands, but becoming nearly 

 globular. Anthers very small, appearing double, protruding beyond 

 the corolla upon slender filaments, without appendages. 



