The Probert Encyclopaedia of Nature

HEATH

Heath is the common name of many plants of the natural order Ericaceae. Those that belong to the genus Erica have their leaves simple and entire; their flowers oval, cylindrical, or even swelled at the base; the corolla is four-cleft; the stamens eight, terminated by anthers which are usually notched or biaristate at the summit, and the fruit dry, four or eight-celled.

From 400 to 500 species are known, twelve or fifteen of which inhabit Europe, and have small flowers, whilst all the remainder are natives of South Africa. Many of them bear brilliantly coloured flowers. In Britain six species are enumerated, of which Erica tetralix and Erica cinerea are the most common, both with beautiful bell-shaped flowers. Another very common species is the common ling or heather, Calluna vulgaris (Calluna having been made a separate genus from Erica), a low shrub, which often covers exclusively extensive tracts of barren land.
Research Heath