Erica vagans L.
Cornish heath
Glabrous shrub forming large spreading clumps with ascending stems to c. 50-(70) cm high. Lvs ± patent, in whorls of 4, 6-13 mm long, strongly revolute and usually margins contiguous; petioles very short. Fls in small clusters, these aggregated into dense terminal or axillary panicles. Pedicels 5-10 mm long, reddish, slender. Bracteoles linear, white, situated in lower 1/2 of pedicel, 0.75-1 mm long, fimbriate. Sepals c. 1 mm long, ovate, whitish, minutely ciliate, acute to almost mucronate. Corolla 3-4 mm long, campanulate or subglobose, pink or rose (often white in cultivation), glabrous; lobes short, broad-triangular, erect or suberect. Stamens exserted; anthers c. 0.75 mm long, black, divergent, awnless. Style > stamens, reddish; stigma shallowly lobed. Capsules not seen.
S.: known certainly from 3 sites, Orowaiti Cemetery (Westport), in tussock shrubland on a hill top at 650 m in Dunedin and around Glade House, Milford Track, Fiordland - probably also wild to a limited extent in old gardens, domains, and cemeteries elsewhere.
W. Europe 1981
FL Dec-May.
Cornish heath is commonly cultivated, particularly in cooler areas. A number of cvs are grown, but wild plants correspond well to descriptions of wild European E. vagans.
