Gray heather

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Gray heather
Gray heather (Erica cinerea)

Gray heather ( Erica cinerea )

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Asterids
Order : Heather-like (Ericales)
Family : Heather family (Ericaceae)
Genre : Heather ( Erica )
Type : Gray heather
Scientific name
Erica cinerea
L.

The gray heather ( Erica cinerea ), also called gray bell heather , is a species of heather ( Erica ) within the heather family (Ericaceae). It is used as an ornamental plant in the temperate areas and is popular as one of the frost-hardy European heather species.

description

Illustration from Flora Batava , Volume 12

Vegetative characteristics

The gray heather grows as a loosely branched, evergreen dwarf shrub and reaches heights of 20 to 60 centimeters. The leaves stand in threes whorls and upright on the woody stem . The needle-shaped leaves are 4 to 5, sometimes up to 7 millimeters long, glabrous and rolled up at the edge.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from early summer to early autumn. The dense, racemose inflorescence contains numerous flowers. The relatively small, hermaphrodite flowers are bell-shaped. The sepals are four-part and 2 to 3 millimeters long. The light purple, rarely white crown is ovoid-cylindrical with a length of 4 to 7 millimeters. There are eight stamens .

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24.

ecology

The gray heather is a Chamaephyte .

Gray bell heather on the Atlantic coast in Ireland

Occurrence

The gray heath has its distribution focus from western Europe to North Africa (Algeria). It occurs from Ireland, Great Britain and Norway via the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. It is an Atlantic- West European floral element . In Germany it occurs naturally only in the far west on the left Lower Rhine .

The gray heather grows in dwarf shrub heaths and nib grass lawns on acidic, humus-rich, sandy-stony soils . In terms of plant sociology , it is the characteristic of the order Erico-Ulicetalia and has a focus in the Genistion association.

literature

  • Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: picture atlas of the fern and flowering plants of Germany . Ed .: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (=  The fern and flowering plants of Germany . Volume 2 ). Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4 .
  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 7th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1828-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  734 .

Web links

Commons : Graue Heide ( Erica cinerea )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files