Cornwall Heath

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Cornwall Heath
Cornwall Heath (Erica vagans)

Cornwall Heath ( Erica vagans )

Systematics
Order : Heather-like (Ericales)
Family : Heather family (Ericaceae)
Subfamily : Ericoideae
Tribe : Ericeae
Genre : Heather ( Erica )
Type : Cornwall Heath
Scientific name
Erica vagans
L.

The Cornwall heather ( Erica vagans ), also known as wandering heather , is a species of the genus heather ( Erica ) within the family of the heather plants (Ericaceae). The Cornwall heather is the flower of the county of Cornwall in south-west England .

description

Vegetative characteristics

The Cornwall heather is an evergreen dwarf shrub that reaches heights of 30 to 80 centimeters. The bark of the lying, ascending or erect branches is bare and yellowish-brown.

Four to five leaves are arranged in leaf whorls. With a length of 5 to 10 millimeters, the bare, dark green leaves are needle-shaped, linear and pointed, but not piercing. The leaf margin is rolled up.

Branch with leaves and flowers

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from July to September. The stalked flowers are usually found in pairs in the upper leaf axils and together form an 8 to 17 centimeter long, slender racemose inflorescence . The hermaphrodite flowers are about 8 millimeters long. The whitish-pink to pale-purple corolla is wide and bell-shaped to urn-shaped. The dark purple anthers protrude from the crown edge with less than half of their length.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.

Occurrence

The Cornwall heather is widespread on the Atlantic coasts of the British Isles and occurs occasionally from France to Spain and Portugal . In Switzerland it occurs as a neophyte in the canton of Geneva. In Ireland she is a neophyte.

It prefers to grow near the coast. It thrives best on sandy or stony, mostly lime-poor soils that are not too dry.

Taxonomy

Erica vagans was first published in 1770 by Carl von Linné . A synonym of Erica vagans L. nom. cons. is Erica didyma Stokes .

use

Some varieties are used as ornamental plants . Some varieties are: 'Alba', 'Diana Hornibrook', 'Holden Pink', 'Lyoness', 'Pyrenees Pink' and 'Valerie Proudley' (random selection).

literature

  • Bruno P. Kremer: Steinbach's great plant guide. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4903-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Konrad Lauber, Gerhart Wagner: Flora Helvetica. Flora of Switzerland. Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern, Stuttgart, Vienna, 1996, ISBN 3-258-05405-3 , p. 428.
  2. ↑ a b c Erica vagans in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ Benito Valdés; with contributions from E. von Raab-Straube & G. Parolly (2009): Ericaceae. Erica vagans In: Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Berlin 2011.
  4. ↑ Data sheet distributed on the Iberian Peninsula by Flora Vascular
  5. ↑ Walter Erhardt , Erich Götz, Nils Bödeker, Siegmund Seybold: The great zander. Encyclopedia of Plant Names. Volume 2. Types and varieties. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7 .

Web links

Commons : Cornwall Heath ( Erica vagans )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files