Species

Erica cinerea

Etymology

Erica: From the Greek ereika 'heath' or 'heather'
cinerea: ash-grey

Common Name(s)

bell heather

Family

Ericaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

ERICIN

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

Low stature shrub and tussock communities

Features

Small shrub sometimes very low and mat forming. Lvs in whorls of three sometimes opposite, 3-6 mm long, revolute with contiguous margins concealing the lower surface, glabroous except sometimes ciliolate margin. Petioles very short. Fls in terminal racemes, sometimes appearing umbellate. Corolla c. 6 mm long, urceolate, purple, rose, pink or occasionally white, glabrous. Style sometimes sticks out a bit from the corolla. Capsule c. 1.5 mm long.

Flowering

December, January, February

Flower Colours

Red / Pink,Violet / Purple

Year Naturalised

1940

Origin

W. Europe

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Dispersal
People often grow cultivars of this plant

This page last updated on 26 Jul 2014