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Ericaceae

 
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Ericaceae
 
 
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The plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Ericaceae (also called the heath family or ericaceous plants) are mostly lime
Calcium oxide

Calcium oxide , commonly known as burnt lime, Lime or quicklime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, Caustic and alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....
-hating (calcifuge
Calcifuge

A calcifuge is a plant that does not tolerate alkaline soil. The word is derived from the Latin 'to flee from chalk'. These plants are also described as ericaceous, as the prototypical calcifuge is the genus Erica ....
) plants that thrive in acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
 soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
s. Many well-known plants of the Ericaceae live in temperate climates, such as cranberry
Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
, blueberry
Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
, heath
Erica

Erica is a genus of over 700 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....
, heather, huckleberry
Huckleberry

Huckleberry may refer to:*Huckleberry plants from the family Ericaceae*Red Huckleberry *Garden huckleberry ...
, azalea
Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs making up part of the genus Rhododendron. Originally azaleas were classed as a different genus of plant, but now they are recognised as two of the eight sub-genera of rhododendrons - subgenus Pentanthera , and subgenus Tsutsuji ....
 and rhododendron
Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It is a large genus with over 1000 species and most have showy flower displays....
. However, the family also contains many tropical species.

The Ericaceae family consists of herbs, shrubs and trees with leaves that are usually alternate, simple and without stipule
Stipule

In botany, stipule is a term coined by Carolus Linnaeus which refers to outgrowths borne on either side of the base of a leafstalk . A pair of stipules is considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many species the stipules are inconspicuous or entirely absent ....
s, and hermaphrodite
Plant sexuality

Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes Morphology aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
 flowers.






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The plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Ericaceae (also called the heath family or ericaceous plants) are mostly lime
Calcium oxide

Calcium oxide , commonly known as burnt lime, Lime or quicklime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, Caustic and alkaline crystalline solid at room temperature....
-hating (calcifuge
Calcifuge

A calcifuge is a plant that does not tolerate alkaline soil. The word is derived from the Latin 'to flee from chalk'. These plants are also described as ericaceous, as the prototypical calcifuge is the genus Erica ....
) plants that thrive in acid
Acid

An acid is traditionally considered any chemical compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a solution with a hydrogen ion Activity greater than in pure water, i.e....
 soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
s. Many well-known plants of the Ericaceae live in temperate climates, such as cranberry
Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos....
, blueberry
Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus. The species are native only to North America. They are shrubs varying in size from 10 cm tall to 4 m tall; the smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" , and the larger species as "highbush blueberries"....
, heath
Erica

Erica is a genus of over 700 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....
, heather, huckleberry
Huckleberry

Huckleberry may refer to:*Huckleberry plants from the family Ericaceae*Red Huckleberry *Garden huckleberry ...
, azalea
Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs making up part of the genus Rhododendron. Originally azaleas were classed as a different genus of plant, but now they are recognised as two of the eight sub-genera of rhododendrons - subgenus Pentanthera , and subgenus Tsutsuji ....
 and rhododendron
Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It is a large genus with over 1000 species and most have showy flower displays....
. However, the family also contains many tropical species.

The Ericaceae family consists of herbs, shrubs and trees with leaves that are usually alternate, simple and without stipule
Stipule

In botany, stipule is a term coined by Carolus Linnaeus which refers to outgrowths borne on either side of the base of a leafstalk . A pair of stipules is considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many species the stipules are inconspicuous or entirely absent ....
s, and hermaphrodite
Plant sexuality

Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes Morphology aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
 flowers. The flowers show considerable variability. The petal
Petal

A petal is one member or part of the Corolla of a flower. The corolla is the name for all of the petals of a flower; the inner perianth whorl, term used when this is not the same in appearance as the outermost whorl and is used to attract pollinators based on its advertising coloration....
s are often fused (sympetalous) with shapes ranging from narrowly tubular to funnelform or widely bowl-shaped. The corollas are usually radially symmetrical (actinomorphic) but many flowers of the genus Rhododendron are somewhat bilaterally symmetrical (zygomorphic).

Recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botany who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies....
 has resulted in the inclusion of the formerly recognised families Empetraceae, Epacridaceae, Monotropaceae
Monotropaceae

Monotropaceae was a small family of flowering plants under the old Cronquist system of plant classification. It included the eight genus Allotropa, Hemitomes, Monotropa, Monotropsis, Pityopus, Pleuricospora, Pterospora, Sarcodes....
, Prionotaceae and Pyrolaceae
Pyrolaceae

Pyrolaceae was a small family of flowering plants under the old Cronquist system of plant classification. It included the four genus Chimaphila, Moneses, Orthilia, and Pyrola, and sometimes also the eight genera formerly usually placed in the family Monotropaceae....
 into Ericaceae. Most Ericaceae, except Monotropaceae, Prionotaceae and Pyrolaceae form ericoid mycorrhiza
Ericoid mycorrhiza

Ericoid mycorrhiza are a symbiotic relationship between fungi and the roots of plants from the Order Ericales. Ericoid mycorrhiza are considered crucial for the success of the family Ericaceae in variety of Edaphic stressful Natural environment worldwide ....
. This symbiotic relationship is considered crucial to the success of members of the family in edaphic
Edaphic

In ecology, edaphic refers to plant Community that are distinguished by soil conditions rather than by the climate. Edaphic plant communities include:...
ally stressful environments worldwide (Cairney and Meharg, 2003).

Genera

  • Acrostemon
  • Acrotriche
    Acrotriche

    Acrotriche is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. Species occur in all states and territories of Australia. They include:...
  • Agapetes
  • Agarista
    Agarista (plant)

    Agarista is a genus of plants in the family Ericaceae....
  • Allotropa
  • Andersonia
    Andersonia

    Andersonia may refer to:*Stylidium subg. Andersonia, a subgenus of Stylidium*    Stylidium sect. Andersonia, a section of Stylidium...
  • Andromeda
    Bog-rosemary

    Bog-rosemary is a heath found across northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Bog rosemary is only found in bogs in cold peat-accumulating areas....
  • Anomalanthus
  • Anthopteropsis
  • Anthopterus
  • Arachnocalyx
  • Arbutus
    Arbutus

    Arbutus is a genus of at least 14 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean region, western Europe, and North America....
  • Arctostaphylos
    Arctostaphylos

    The genus Arctostaphylos, the manzanitas and bearberries, are shrubs or small trees characterised by smooth, orange or red bark and stiff, twisting branches....
  • Astroloma
    Astroloma

    Astroloma is an endemic Australian genus of around 20 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae.The majority of the species are endemic in Western Australia, but a few species occur in New South Wales, Victoria , Tasmania and South Australia....
  • Bejaria
  • Brachyloma
  • Bruckenthalia
  • Bryanthus
  • Calluna
    Calluna

    Calluna vulgaris, Common Heather, ling, or simpy "heather" is a heather, the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae....
  • Calopteryx
    Calopteryx

    Calopteryx is a genus of damselfly in family Calopterygidae. It contains the following species:* Calopteryx angustipennis*     Calopteryx exul...
  • Cassiope
    Cassiope

    Cassiope is a genus of 9-12 small shrubby species in the family Ericaceae. They are native to the Arctic and north temperate montane regions....
  • Cavendishia
    Cavendishia

    Cavendishia is a genus of about 100 species of woody perennial plants, many of which are epiphyte. The genus is native to tropical South America and Central America....
  • Ceratiola
  • Ceratostema
  • Chamaedaphne
    Chamaedaphne

    The Leatherleaf is a shrub in the plant family Ericaceae and the only species in the genus Chamaedaphne. It has a wide distribution throughout the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
  • Chimaphila
    Chimaphila

    Chimaphila is a genus of five species of small, evergreen, flowering plants native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. They are classified in the family Ericaceae, but were formerly placed in the segregate family Pyrolaceae....
  • Coccosperma
  • Coilostigma
  • Comarostaphylis
    Comarostaphylis

    Comarostaphylis is a genus of shrubs in the Ericaceae native to the Americas from California in the United States to Panama. These are hairy, glandular shrubs to small trees with shreddy bark, often quite similar to their close relatives, the Arctostaphylos....
  • Conostephium
  • Corema
  • Costera
    Costera

    Costera is a Comarques of the Valencian Community in the Provinces of Spain of Valencia , Valencian Community, Spain....
  • Craibiodendron
  • Cyathodes
  • Daboecia
    Daboecia

    Daboecia is a small genus in the family Ericaceae, containing two shrubby species, closely related to the genus Erica.Daboecia differs from European Erica species in having a deciduous Corolla which is substantially larger than the corolla in the same species of Erica....
  • Demosthenesia
  • Didonica
  • Dimorphanthera
  • Diogenesia
  • Diplarche
  • Diplycosia
  • Disterigma
  • Dracophyllum
    Dracophyllum

    Dracophyllum is a genus of plants belonging to the family Ericaceae, formerly Epacridaceae. There are some one hundred or so species in the genus, mostly shrubs but also cusion plants and trees, found in New Zealand, Australia and New Caledonia....
  • Empetrum
    Crowberry

    Crowberry is a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit. They are commonly found in the northern hemisphere, from temperate to Subarctic climate climates, and also in the Andes of South America and on Tristan da Cunha ....
  • Elliottia
  • Epacris
    Epacris

    Epacris is a genus of about 35-40 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, though formerly often treated in a separate family Epacridaceae....
  • Epigaea
    Epigaea

    Epigaea is a genus of three species of flowering plants in the Ericaceae. They are small creeping shrubs growing to 10-20 cm tall, forming large patches....
  • Enkianthus
    Enkianthus

    Enkianthus is a genus of shrubs or small trees in the heath family . Its native range is in Asia, as far west as the eastern Himalayas, as far south as Indochina, and as far north and east as China and Japan....
  • Eremia
  • Eremiella
  • Erica
    Erica

    Erica is a genus of over 700 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....
  • Findlaya
  • Gaultheria
    Gaultheria

    Gaultheria is a genus of about 170-180 species of shrubs in the family Ericaceae. The name memorializes M. Hugues Gauthier of Quebec, a mis-spelt honour bestowed by the Scandinavian Pehr Kalm in 1748....
  • Gaylussacia
    Gaylussacia

    Gaylussacia is a genus of about fifty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to the Americas, where they occur in eastern North America and in South America in the Andes and the mountains of southeastern Brazil ....
  • Gonocalyx
  • Grisebachia
  • Harrimanella
  • Hemitomes
    Hemitomes

    Hemitomes is a monotypic genus of plants containing the single species Hemitomes congestum, which is known as gnome plant and cone plant....
  • Kalmia
    Kalmia

    Kalmia is a genus of about 7 species of evergreen shrubs from 0.2-5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae. They are native to North America and Cuba....
  • Kalmiopsis
    Kalmiopsis

    Kalmiopsis is a rare flowering plant endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains of southwest Oregon, where it is specially protected in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness reserve....
  • Killipiella
  • Lateropora
  • Ledothamnus
  • Ledum
    Ledum

    Ledum is a genus name formerly widely recognised in the family Ericaceae, including 8 species of evergreen shrubs native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and commonly known as Labrador Tea....
  • Leiophyllum
  • Leucopogon
    Leucopogon

    Leucopogon is a genus of about 150-160 species of shrubby flowering plants belonging to the family Ericaceae, in the section of that family formerly treated as the separate family Epacridaceae....
  • Leucothoe
    Leucothoe (plant)

    Leucothoe is a genus of about 45 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to Asia, the Americas and Madagascar.They are shrubs growing to 1-3 m tall, either deciduous or evergreen depending on species....
  • Lissanthe
    Lissanthe

    Lissanthe is a genus of shrubs in the family Ericaceae. The genus is endemism to Australia.Species include:*Lissanthe brevistyla A.R.Bean...
  • Loiseleuria
  • Lyonia
    Lyonia (Ericaceae)

    Lyonia is a genus of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae.Species include:*Lyonia elliptica*    Lyonia jamaicensis*''Lyonia maestrensis...
  • Macleana
  • Macnabia
  • Malea
  • Menziesia
    Menziesia

    Menziesia is a genus of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae.Species, included:* Menziesia ciliicalyx* Menziesia ferruginea - False azalea or Fool's huckleberry...
  • Mitrastylus
  • Moneses
    Moneses uniflora

    Moneses uniflora Gray is a plant of the family of Ericaceae, that is indigenous to moist coniferous forests in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere from Spain to Japan and across North America....
  • Monotoca
    Monotoca

    Monotoca is a genus of about 17 species of shrubs in the family Ericaceae. The genus is endemism to Australia.Species include:*Monotoca billawinica Albr....
  • Monotropa
    Monotropa

    Monotropa is a genus of two species of herbaceous perennial plants, formerly classified in the family Monotropaceae, but now included within the Ericaceae....
  • Monotropsis
  • Mycerinus
  • Nagelocarpus
  • Notopora
  • Oreanthes
  • Ornithostaphylos
    Ornithostaphylos

    Ornithostaphylos is a monotypic plant genus which contains the single species Ornithostaphylos oppositifolia, the Baja birdbush or Baja California birdbush....
  • Orthaea
  • Orthilia
    Orthilia

    Orthilia secunda is a flowering plant of the genus Orthilia in the family Ericaceae. It is the only member of the genus....
  • Oxydendrum
    Sourwood

    Sourwood or Sorrel Tree is the sole species in the genus Oxydendrum DC, in the family Ericaceae. It is native to eastern North America, from southern Pennsylvania south to northwest Florida and west to southern Illinois; it is most common in the lower chain of the Appalachian Mountains....
  • Pellegrinia
  • Pentachondra
  • Pernettyopsis
  • Phyllodoce
    Phyllodoce

    This article is on the plant genus Phyllodoce. For the genus of polychaete, see Polychaete.'Phyllodoce' is a small genus of plants which includes the 'mountainheaths' or 'mountain heathers'....
  • Pieris
    Pieris (plant)

    Pieris is a genus of seven species of shrubs in the family Ericaceae, native to mountain regions of eastern and southern Asia, eastern North America and Cuba....
  • Pityopus
  • Platycalyx
  • Pleuricospora
  • Plutarchia
  • Polyclita
  • Prionotes
  • Psammisia
    Psammisia

    Psammisia is a genus of angiosperm in the family Ericaceae. It contains the fruiting bushes commonly called Joyapas and is distributed throughout the Neotropics....
  • Pterospora
    Pinedrops

    Pinedrops is the common name for the plant Pterospora andromedea of the family Ericaceae; it is the only species in the genus Pterospora....
  • Pyrola
    Pyrola

    Pyrola is a genus of evergreen herbaceous plants in the family Ericaceae. Under the old Cronquist system it was placed in its own family Pyrolaceae, but genetic research showed it belonged in the family Ericaceae....
  • Rhododendron
    Rhododendron

    Rhododendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It is a large genus with over 1000 species and most have showy flower displays....
  • Rhodothamnus
  • Richea
  • Rusbya
  • Salaxis
  • Sarcodes
  • Satyria
  • Scyphogyne
  • Semiramisia
  • Simocheilus
  • Siphonandra
  • Sphyrospermum
  • Stokoeanthus
  • Styphelia
    Styphelia

    Styphelia is a genus of shrubs in the Erica family, Ericaceae. The genus is endemism to Australia and the Pacific Islands.Species include:...
  • Sympieza
  • Syndsmanthus
  • Tepuia
  • Thamnus
  • Themistoclesia
  • Therorhodion
  • Thibaudia
    Thibaudia

    Thibaudia is a genus of angiosperm in the Ericaceae. They are native to Central America and South America with a high concentration of species in the cloud forests of Costa Rica and Ecuador....
  • Thoracosperma
  • Trochocarpa
  • Tsusiophyllum
  • Utleya
  • Vaccinium
    Vaccinium

    Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae. The fruit of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry ....
  • Woollsia
  • Xylococcus
  • Zenobia
    Zenobia (plant)

    Zenobia pulverulenta is the sole species in the genus Zenobia, in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is native to the Southeastern United States United States, in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia....


    • External links

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    • , including a large number of photographs, cladograms, and descriptions.