Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Erica vagans

Family

Ericaceae

Flowering season

July to September

English distribution

Native Cornish Heath is found on the Lizard Peninsular in

Cornwall.

See the BSBI distribution map for Cornish Heath

Habitat

It grows on dry heaths

Description

Cornish Heath is a native, mound-forming shrub, growing

up to 80cm.

It covers large areas of heathland on the Lizard.

The flowers are in broad, leafy, cylindrical spikes often

topped with leaves and up to 16cm.

Flowers are bell-shaped, up to 1cm, with a colour

range from pale pink to lilac.

The 4 stamens have white filaments and brownish-

purple anthers, which protrude from the flower.

The stigma is pink or white and also protrudes.

The pedicels (flower stalks) are pink and longer than

the flowers.

The leaves are in whorls of 4-5, up to 1cm, linear,

recurved at the margin and bright green.

It is a diffuse shrub with many upright stems and

erect branches.