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Honeysuckle heath

Erica abietina

Honeysuckle heath
Photo: Eric Hunt, CC BY 2.5

Erica abietina, the honeysuckle heath, is a shrub in the heather family endemic to the Cape Peninsula of South Africa, with four subspecies that vary in flower colour. Like most ericas, it needs acidic, well-drained soil and good air circulation.

Family
Ericaceae (Heather family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water moderately while establishing, then let the top of the soil dry out between waterings; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Acidic, sandy or peaty, free-draining mix
Temperature
10–25 °C; tender to hard frost
How easy
Moderate
Native range
SW. Cape Prov.
Climate
subtropical

About

Erica abietina, the honeysuckle heath, is a species of erica that is endemic to the Cape Peninsula of the Western Cape, South Africa.

E. abietina includes four subspecies with often highly restricted distributions and distinctive flower colours. Previous delimitation of the species has included a further three subspecies which proved to be more distantly related to Cape Peninsula endemic E. abietina subspecies and are now classified under Erica grandiflora L.f. (Erica abietina subsp. aurantiaca E.G.H.Oliv. & I.M.Oliv.; Erica abietina subsp. perfoliosa E.G.H.Oliv. & I.M.Oliv.) and Erica situshiemalis E.G.H.Oliv. & Pirie.

Other Erica plants

Erica abbottii · Summer heath · Erica albens · Erica alfredii · Cold Heath · Foxtail Erica · Erica amicorum · Erica amoena · Erica ampullacea · Erica andevalensis · Eyelash Heath · Cliff-hanger heath

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Erica abietina 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.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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