| Erica carnea | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Erica |
| Species: | E. carnea |
| Binomial name | |
| Erica carnea | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Erica carnea, thewinter heath,[1]winter-flowering heather,spring heath oralpine heath, is aspecies offlowering plant in thefamilyEricaceae,native to mountainous areas of central, eastern and southern Europe, where it grows inconiferous woodlands or stony slopes.
It is a low-growing, spreadingsubshrub reaching 10–25 centimetres (4–10 inches) tall, withevergreen needle-likeleaves 4–8 millimetres (1⁄8–3⁄8 in) long, borne in whorls of four. Theflowers are produced inracemes in late winter to early spring, often starting to flower while the plant is still covered insnow; the individual flower is a slender bell-shape,4–6 mm (3⁄16–1⁄4 in) long, dark reddish-pink, rarely white.
The first published name for the species wasErica herbacea; however, the nameE. carnea (published three pages later in the same book) is so widely used, and the earlier name so little, that a formal proposal to conserve the nameE. carnea overE. herbacea was accepted by theInternational Botanical Congress in 1999.
The Latinspecific epithetcarnea means "flesh pink".[2]
Erica carnea was being cultivated in theUnited Kingdom as early as 1763.[3] It is very widely grown as anornamental plant for its winter flowering; over 100cultivars have been selected for variation in flower and leaf colour. Unlike most species ofErica, which are typicallycalcifuges, it tolerates mildly alkaline as well as acidic soils, making it easier to grow in many areas. Like other species within the genusErica it is often seen asgroundcover amongst plantings of dwarf conifers.[4]
The followingcultivars,forms andhybrids have gained theRoyal Horticultural Society'sAward of Garden Merit:[5]
Heathers as garden plants have a surprisingly long history. The valuable winter-floweringErica carnea was, according to the Royal Horticultural Society'sDictionary of Gardening, introduced into cultivation in this country as long ago as 1763
