Erica carnea (
Winter heath,
Winter Flowering Heather, or
Spring heath; syn.
E. herbacea, E. mediterranea) is a
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of
heathErica , the heaths or heathers, is a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names "heath" and "heather" are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance....
native to mountainous areas of central and southern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
in the eastern
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, where it grows in
coniferousThe conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority...
woodlands or stony slopes.
It is a low-growing
subshrubA subshrub is a short woody plant. It is distinguished from a shrub by its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or persisting only for a few years...
reaching 10-25 cm tall, with
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
needle-like
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
4-8 mm long, borne in whorls of four.
Erica carnea (
Winter heath,
Winter Flowering Heather, or
Spring heath; syn.
E. herbacea, E. mediterranea) is a
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of
heathErica , the heaths or heathers, is a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names "heath" and "heather" are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance....
native to mountainous areas of central and southern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
in the eastern
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, where it grows in
coniferousThe conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority...
woodlands or stony slopes.
It is a low-growing
subshrubA subshrub is a short woody plant. It is distinguished from a shrub by its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or persisting only for a few years...
reaching 10-25 cm tall, with
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
needle-like
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
4-8 mm long, borne in whorls of four. The
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s are produced in
racemeA raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s in late winter to early spring, often starting to flower while the plant is still covered in
snowSnow is a type of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by external pressure. Snowflakes...
; the individual flower is a slender bell-shape, 4-6 mm long, dark reddish-pink, rarely white.
The first published name for the species is
Erica herbacea; however, the name
E. carnea (published three pages later in the same book) is so widely used, and the earlier name so little used, that a formal proposal to conserve the name
E. carnea over
E. herbacea was accepted by the
International Botanical CongressInternational Botanical Congress is a large-scale meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, from all over the world. Authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies , congresses are held every six years with the venue circulating around the world...
in 1999.
Cultivation and uses
It is very widely grown as an
ornamental plantOrnamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, stem and bark. In some cases, unusual features may be considered ornamental, such as the...
for its winter flowering; over 100
cultivarA cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of desired characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when propagated it retains those characteristics....
s have been selected for variation in flower and leaf colour. Unlike most species of
Erica, it is tolerant of
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
as well as acidic soils, making it an easier plant to grow in many areas.
Common cultivars include ‘Aurea’, ‘Springwood Mix’, ‘Springwood White’ (white), ‘Winter Sport’
External links