Species

Calluna vulgaris

Etymology

Calluna: From the Greek kalluno meaning to brush or clean; refers to the use of the plant as a broom.

Common Name(s)

heather

Family

Ericaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

CALVUL

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Trees & Shrubs

Habitat

Terrestrial. A plant of montane, subalpine and alpine habitats. The plant grows in sites of low - moderate fertility. Plant found in scrub and forest margin, shrubland, tall and short tussockland, herbfields, riverbeds, wetlands, alpine gravel fields, dune slacks and road edges.

Features

Shrub to c. 50cm tall; stems puberulent or densely hairy at first, becoming glabrous. Lvs 1.5-3.5mm long (including auricles), oblong-ovate or oblong-lanceolate; densely imbricate on non-flowering branches, keeled on abaxial surface, often ciliate, obtuse; auricles proximally directed. Infl. a narrow raceme 2-9-(c.20) cm long, sometimes almost paniculate. Pedicels very short, puberulent. Bracteoles several, similar to lvs, resembling a calyx below fl., obscuring pedicels. Sepals 2-4mm long, ovate-oblong, pink or mauve-pink, shining, +/- scarious. Corolla c. 3/4 length of calyx, deeply lobed, paler than calyx, persistent, scarious. Stamens c. = corolla; anthers>filaments. Style reddish, exerted. Capsules densely hairy, < perianth, subglobose. Seeds 0.5-0.7mm long, strongly reticulate, often aborted. (Webb.et.al.1988)

Similar Taxa

Tiny green leaves with small purple flowers up to 1m high. Shrub up to 50cm tall, with narrow, elongated inflorescence 2-9cm long of many mauve-pink flowers (Webb et. al. 1988). Leaves are very narrow, overlapping from 1.5-3.5mm long.

Flowering

January, February, March, April

Flower Colours

Red / Pink

Fruiting

late March? - April, but seeds shed into June or later.

Year Naturalised

1910

Origin

Eurasia, N Africa

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial.

Reproduction
The main cause of spread (Webb et. al. 1988) is from adventitious rooting of larger branches of older plants and fragmentation after disturbance. Creeping rhizomes are produced by the plant.

Seed
Seed production of one plant is estimated at 161 000 seeds per year. Seeds remain viable for at least 11-12 years, some evidence suggests some have remained viable up to 45 years. Some viable seed production.

Dispersal
Seed is dispersed by gravity and wind (100m in 10/s and 250m in 30-40m/s).

Tolerances
The plant is highly tolerant to frost and tolerant of poor drainage. The plant is slightly tolerant to drought, but in Europe is intolerant in shallow soils. Resprouting occurs after physical damage, grazing and fire. Seeds are able to sprout after fire.

This page last updated on 24 Apr 2010