Erica vagans |
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Cornish heath |
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Habit | Plants decumbent or ascending, 30–60 cm; twigs of current season green, glabrous, ridged from decurrent leaf bases, older twigs light brown, glabrous, rough from raised leaf scars. |
Leaves | in whorls of 4–5; petiole 0.5–1 mm; blade linear-lanceolate, compressed-triangular in cross section, 4.5–6 × 1 mm, margins revolute, ciliate, surfaces glabrous, grooved abaxially. |
Inflorescences | terminal or lateral racemes, ovoid to oblong, 5–10 cm. |
Pedicels | 5–8 mm, glabrous; (bracteoles 2, in basal third, 0.4–0.6 mm, scarious). |
Flowers | calyx lobes elliptic, 1 × 0.5 mm, margins ciliate, apex obtuse, glabrous; corolla pink or white, broadly campanulate, 2.5–3.5 mm, lobes deltate, 0.5 mm, apex obtuse; stamens 10; filaments 1.5–2 mm; anthers not awned, 0.5–0.8 mm; ovary glabrous; style 3.5–4.5 mm; stigma exserted, filiform, (glabrous). |
Capsules | 1–2 mm, hairy. |
Seeds | ellipsoid, 0.6 × 0.5 mm, finely pitted. |
2n | = 24. |
Erica vagans |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer. |
Habitat | Sandy, acidic, upland sites in old pastures and roadsides |
Elevation | 0-50 m (0-200 ft) |
Distribution |
MA; PA; w Europe [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | The Massachusetts records of Erica vagans are dated 1915 to 1921, from Nantucket Island. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 493. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Erica, 10. 1770 , |
Web links |