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Erica turgida

Erica turgida
Photo: Andrew Massyn, Public domain

Erica turgida, the showy heath or Kenilworth heath, is a small, delicate shrub with thin velvety stems and masses of bright-pink cup-shaped flowers. It is extinct in the wild and survives only in cultivation, so growing it is mainly a matter of conservation.

Family
Ericaceae (Heather family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then allow the top of the soil to dry between waterings; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Free-draining, acidic, sandy or peaty mix; ericas dislike lime.
Temperature
Mild Mediterranean-type conditions; protect from frost below about -3 °C.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Cape Prov. (Rondebosch to Wynberg)
Climate
subtropical

About

Erica turgida, the showy heath or Kenilworth heath, is a species of Erica that was naturally restricted to the city of Cape Town, South Africa, but is now classified as Extinct in the Wild.

This small, delicate erica produces thin, willowy stems, covered in velvety hair. It produces masses of bright-pink, cup-shaped flowers.

Other Erica plants

Erica abbottii · Honeysuckle heath · Summer heath · Erica albens · Erica alfredii · Cold Heath · Foxtail Erica · Erica amicorum · Erica amoena · Erica ampullacea · Erica andevalensis · Eyelash Heath

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Erica turgida 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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