THE HEATH FAMILY 
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3. Mackay’s Heath. (Erica Maek&yi. Hook.) — A very similar species to the last, 
the Cross-leaved Heath (Erica Tetralix) — regarded by Sir John Hooker merely as a variety — 
differing chiefly in having a shorter and wider corolla ; shorter and broader leaves, which are 
of a darker green and not downy ; and in the capsule being smooth and not downy. 
Very rare. Wet moors between Roundstone and Clifden and between Carna and Lough 
Sheedah, Co. Galway. July — September. Perennial. 
4. Fine-leaved Heath. (Eri ca einerea. Linn.) — The commonest British Heath. The 
flowers are \ inch long, purplish-crimson, rarely white, urn-shaped, less inflated than in the 
Cross-leaved Heath (Erica Tetralix), in dense whorled clusters (racemes) terminating the stem 
and branches ; the anthers with short spurs at the base, enclosed in the corolla, and the style 
protruding. [As described in the genus Heath (Erica).] A small bush, from 6 inches to 
2 feet high, frequently covering large tracts of country ; the stems are stout and woody, 
and the leaves are finer and more pointed than in any other British species, flat and narrow, the 
edges not rolled in, generally 3 in a circle (whorl), with clusters of small leaves in their axils. 
[ Plate 5. 
Very common. Heaths and mountain-sides all over the British Isles. July — September. 
Perennial. 
5. Cornish Heath. (Eri ca V&g'ans. Linn.) — Flowers small, I inch long, bell-shaped, 
in dense leafy tapering clusters ; the corolla is pink, rose-colour, or pure white, and differs from 
all the preceding species in being bell-shaped and open at the mouth when the flower first opens 
and afterwards globular ; the anthers have no spurs and protrude beyond the corolla. [As 
described in the genus Heath (Erica).] A small compact shrub, 1-3 feet high, much branched 
and very leafy in the upper part ; the leaves 4-5 in circles (whorls), narrow, with slightly rolled-in 
edges. [ Plate 5. 
Local. Covering thousands of acres on the Goonhilly and other downs at the Lizard in Corn- 
wall. July — September. Perennial. 
6. Mediterranean Heath. (Eri ca mediterranea. Linn.)— Flowers small, \ inch long, 
pink, narrowly urn-shaped, in rather dense terminal clusters (racemes) ; the calyx-lobes are narrow 
and pointed and of a pink colour (petaloid) ; the anthers are not spurred and only protrude 
slightly beyond the corolla and open throughout more than half their length. [As described in 
the genus Heath (Erica).] The stems are from 18 inches to 5 feet high and form a compact bush ; 
the leaves, in whorls of 4, are narrow and flat, the edges not rolled in. {Erica carnea, v. medi- 
terranea. Benth. and Hook. ; Erica hibernica. Syme.) 
Very rare. On mountain bogs in the west of Co. Mayo and Co. Galway. April — May. 
Perennial. 
IX. WINTER-GREEN. (PYROLA. Linn.) — Flowers white or pink, with a small bract at the 
base of each flower, in short or elongated clusters (umbels or racemes) on leafless, erect stalks 
(scapes). Calyx 5-lobed, entirely free from and inserted below the seedcase (inferior) ; corolla of 
5 distinct petals, not remaining with the fruit (deciduous), inserted below the seedcase (hypo- 
gynous) ; stamens 10, inserted by the corolla below the seedcase (hypogynous), anthers 2-celled, 
not lengthened into horns, opening by pores close to the insertion of the filaments ; carpels 5, the 
style long and often curved, and the stigma with 5 short blunt lobes ; fruit a capsule, roundish, 
5-lobed, 5-celled, many-seeded, opening by 5 valves down the middle of the cells (loculicidal). 
Low herbs with short, almost woody, unbranched stems, and roundish or egg-shaped evergreen 
leaves, chiefly from the root. 
VOL. 11 
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