Flora of North America species comparison

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Erica

heath
Habit Subshrubs or shrubs [trees].
Stems

erect, spreading, or creeping, (much-branched);

twigs glabrous or hairy.
Leaves

persistent, whorled;

petiole present;

blade coriaceous, margins ciliate, prickled, or glabrous.
Inflorescences

terminal or axillary, umbels, racemes, or panicles, 10–30-flowered;

perulae absent; (bracteoles 2–3).
Flowers

bisexual, radially symmetric;

sepals 4–5, distinct, (shorter than petals);

petals 4–5, connate nearly their entire lengths [connate ca. 1/2 their lengths], corolla persistent, campanulate;

stamens 10, included or exserted; (filaments glabrous);

anthers with or without awns, dehiscent through narrowly oblong, subterminal pores;

ovary pseudo-10-locular;

style (slender, straight), included or exserted, (glabrous);

stigma filiform, obconic, or capitate.
Fruits

capsular [drupaceous], ellipsoid, dehiscence loculicidal [indehiscent].
Seeds

ca. 10, ellipsoid to obovoid, not winged, not tailed;

testa reticulate or foveolate.
x

= 12.

Erica
Distribution
from USDA
Europe; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species ca. 860 (4 in the flora).

All of the naturalized species of Erica, as well as some others and hybrids, are cultivated, especially in the northeastern and northwestern coastal areas (D. Metheny 1991). Most require acid soils, although E. carnea, E. vagans, and E. ×darleyensis (E. carnea × E. erigena) will accept neutral soils (A. Mikolajski 1997). Over 700 species are endemic to the Cape region of southern Africa; recent molecular phylogenetic studies suggest that the genus originated in Europe, and that the southern African species represent radiation from an ancestor of E. arborea (A. F. McGuire and K. A. Kron 2005).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Pedicels 5-8 mm; corollas 2.5-3.5 mm; anthers without awns; petioles 0.5-1 mm.
E. vagans
1. Pedicels 1-3 mm; corollas 4-6 mm; anthers with awns; petioles 0.1-0.3 mm
→ 2
2. Stigmas obconic, exserted; calyx lobes ovate
E. lusitanica
2. Stigmas capitate, not (or slightly) exserted; calyx lobes deltate
→ 3
3. Leaves in whorls of 3, surfaces glabrous, but with marginal prickles; ovaries glabrous; corolla lobes rounded apically.
E. cinerea
3. Leaves in whorls of 4, surfaces with scattered hairs and glands; ovaries hairy; corolla lobes acute apically.
E. tetralix
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 492. Author: Gordon C. Tucker.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Ericoideae
Subordinate taxa
E. cinerea, E. lusitanica, E. tetralix, E. vagans
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 352. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 167. 1754 ,
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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