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Erica
Also called Heaths, Ericas, Heathers, Spring Heathers, Winter Heathers
Erica is a genus of about 857 evergreen shrubs (heaths and winter or spring heathers) mostly from South Africa, with the rest from Africa, Madagascar, the Mediterranean and Europe. Grow them in acidic, well-drained soil in full sun for their long-lasting flowers.
Erica is a genus of roughly 857 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names heath and heather are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance. The genus Calluna was formerly included in Erica; it differs in having even smaller scale-leaves (less than 2–3 millimetres long), and the flower corolla consisting of separate petals. Erica is sometimes referred to as "winter (or spring) heather" to distinguish it from Calluna "summer (or autumn) heather".
Erica species are grown as landscape or garden plants for their floral effect. They associate well with conifers and are frequently seen in planting schemes as massed ground cover beneath varieties of dwarf conifers. They are capable of producing flower colour throughout the year. They can also be grown in tubs or window boxes to provide interest through autumn and into winter. Traces of Erica pollen were found on the banks of Arno near Florence dating from Roman times indicating an intended cultivation as building material or river bank management
The cultivation of larger beds of heath rather than individual plants became more popular in the 1920s, after gardeners began to try and replicate natural heathland environments in their gardens.
Around 690 of the species are endemic to South Africa, and these are often called the Cape heaths, forming the largest genus in the fynbos. The remaining species are native to other parts of Africa, Madagascar, the Mediterranean, and Europe.
Tree Heath · Spanish Heath · Hairy grey heather · Winter heath · Fire heath · Scotch heath · Darley Dale Heath · Irish Heath · Hairyflower Heath · Portuguese Heath · Erica mackaiana · Nine-pin heath
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Erica (plant) by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
