Stems very woody, one to two feet high, or more, repeatedly and 
irregularly branched, branches reddish. Leaves minute, opposite, 
sessile, with 2 small decurrent spurs at the base, closely imbri- 
cated on the young branches, in four rows, generally smooth, 
sometimes pubescent, or even hoary, as in variety /3. of Sir J. E. 
Smith’s English Flora. Flowers (fig. 1.) small, reddish, or pale 
rose-coloured, sometimes white, on short stalks, drooping, in 
longish unilateral clusters, which are soon over-topped by leafy 
shoots. Outer calyx ( Bractece of Lindl. and Hook.) of 4 small 
green leaves, which are often tinged with red, and fringed at the 
edge with soft hairs ; inter or proper calyx, which is the most con- 
spicuous part of the flower (see figs. 1 and 4.) , consists of 4, some- 
what egg-shaped, concave sepals, of a shining permanent rose- 
colour. Corolla of 1 petal, much shorter than the calyx, divided 
above half way down into 4 (sometimes 5) egg-shaped, blunt, 
equal segments (fig. 3.), of a pale purple rose-colour, white towards 
the base. Filaments 8, awl-shaped, white, or tinged with purple. 
Anthers not protruding beyond the corolla, reddish-brown or 
orange-coloured, spear-shaped, with 2 cells opening at the sides ; 
horns, awl-shaped, white, sometimes cloven, pointing downwards, 
nearly half the length of the filaments, pollen white. Style cylin- 
drical, slanting upwards, white, purplish above, longer than the 
calyx. Stigma purplish-red. Capsule small, inclosed by the per- 
manent proper calyx. 
There is a beautiful variety of this, with double flowers, which 
is commonly met with in the nurseries ; it sometimes occurs with 
white flowers; and a variety, with hoary leaves, is not uncommon 
on Shotover Hill, near Oxford, and many other places. 
This lovely gem, “ whose modest bloom sheds beauty o’er the lonely moor,” 
and almost every heath, and barren open waste in Great Britain and Ireland, 
where the soil is sandy ; is applied to a great variety of purposes, in the bleak and 
barren Highlands of Scotland, and other northern countries. The poorer inha- 
bitants cover their cabins with it instead of thatch ; they also construct the walls 
of their cottages with alternate layers of Heath, and a kind of mortar, made of 
black earth and straw, the woody roots of the Heath being placed in the centre, 
and the lops externally and inlet nally. The hardy Highlanders frequently make 
beds of it, laying the roots downwards, and the tops upwards. In this manner 
they are said to form a bed so pleasant, that it may vie in softness with the finest 
down, while in salubrity it far exceeds it. Mr. M' Nab, the ptesent able Curator 
of the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, says he can state, from his own ex- 
perience, that a dry bed of native heather is, to the weary traveller in many parts 
of the Highlands, a real luxury. In most of the western isles they dye their 
yarn of a yellow colour, by boiling it in water with the green tops and flowers of 
this plant; and woollen cloth boiled in alum water, and afterwards in a strong 
decoction of the tops, comes out a fine orange colour. It has also been found, by 
boiling, to afford a good liquor for tanning leather. In the island of Hay, ale is 
frequently made by brewing one part malt and two parts of the young tops of 
Heath ; sometimes hops are added. Boethius relates, that this liquor was much 
used by the Piets. In Scotland, ropes are made of Heath. In most parts of 
Great Britain it is generally used for making besoms. Sheep and goats some- 
times eat the tender shoots, but they are not fond of them. The grouse and 
heath-cock feed upon them, and on the seeds ; and for this purpose the seed- 
vessel is so constructed as to retain the seeds for a considerable length of time, 
instead of discharging them as soon as they become ripe. Bees extract much 
honey from the flowers, but it has a reddish cast, and is coarse. 
'J'he foliage affords nourishment to the caterpillar of the Great Egger Moth, 
( Phalana QuercusJ. The Lesser Dodder ('Cuscuta EpithymumJ is frequently 
parasitical on this plant, about which it entwines itself, giving it an appearance 
which may puzzle, if not mislead, the inexperienced Botanist. 
