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Heather Family [Ericaceae] |
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10th Aug 2009, Headon Hill, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
Bell Heather is a more purple to reddish colour than is the pale-purple colour of Heather aka Ling. |
22nd Aug 2007, Great Orme, Llandudno. | Photo: © RWD |
These fells are covered in two differing heathers/heaths: Heather (which is bluer) and Bell Heather (redder) |
22nd Aug 2007, Great Orme, Llandudno. | Photo: © RWD |
One of the gorses (deep yellow) is also present amidst the heathers. Bell Heather prefers a dryer less moist soil than does Ling aka Heather. |
31st Dec 2006(?), Mottistone, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
Bell Heather is an evergreen shrub growing to 60cm high. Bracken interloper in evidence here. |
14th July 2007, Bouldnor, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
1st July. unknown place | Photo: © RWD |
1st July. unknown place | Photo: © RWD |
22nd Aug 2007, Great Orme, Llandudno. | Photo: © RWD |
The flowers are usually on short upright to drooping stalks in an upright, loosely populated, spike of flowers. |
22nd Aug 2007, Great Orme, Llandudno. | Photo: © RWD |
The flowers are shaped like a nearly closed bell, with short recurved petals. When mature the stigmas protrude from the opening. |
22nd Aug 2007, Great Orme, Llandudno. | Photo: © RWD |
The styles are discoidal on the end of the stigma. |
22nd Aug 2007, Great Orme, Llandudno. | Photo: © RWD |
The corolla is 4 to 7mm. |
8th June 2007, the fells, near Glenridding, Lake Dist. | Photo: © RWD |
Sometimes the flowers are just at the top of the stem in umbel-like clusters. |
8th June 2007, the fells, near Glenridding, Lake Dist. | Photo: © RWD |
An umbel-like cluster of flowers at the summit. The 5 sepals are long, narrow and taper to a blunt tip. These flowers have not yet opened up slightly, and the 4 petals are mostly still pointing forwards. Some flowers are still closed at their tips. |
5th Aug 2005, above Grindleford, Peak Dist. | Photo: © RWD |
The tips of the flowers have opened and the 4 petals are now starting to recurve backwards. |
8th June 2007, the fells, near Glenridding, Lake Dist. | Photo: © RWD |
The leaves are in whorls of three up the stem (with clusters of shorter leaves at their base). |
22nd Aug 2007, Great Orme, Llandudno. | Photo: © RWD |
The leaves in small clusters up the stem. |
8th June 2007, the fells, near Glenridding, Lake Dist. | Photo: © RWD |
The reader might just about be able to find the 3 longer leaves at the base of shorter clusters of leaves. Here they have red tips. The leaves are rolled over beneath their top surface making them loom narrower and thicker than what they really are. |
23rd Aug 2012, nr Hayburn Wyke, Scarborough coastline. | Photo: © RWD |
Here both Heather (which prefers a wetter soil) and Bell Heather (which prefers a drier soil) are growing together on a sloping bank. At the top of the bank is Broom which is not yet in flower. |
22nd Aug 2007, Great Orme, Llandudno. | Photo: © RWD |
Here growing amidst Heather and Gorse beneath some rocky outcrop. |
Not to be semantically confused with : the very poisonous Belladonna aka Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna), nor with Bellflowers such as Giant Bellflower (Campanula latifolia), Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), Some similarities to : Cross-Leaved Heath (Erica tetralix) which usuakly has tight clusters of pink-red flowers at the summit of a stem with leaves in whorls of four (rather than in whorls of 3 for Bell Heather). Slight resemblance to : other Heaths such as the very rare Cornish Heath (Erica vegans) which is abundant only on the Lizard Peninsula. Uniquely identifiable characteristics Distinguishing Feature : Bell Heather is the next most common Heather/Heath to Heather (Calluna vulgaris) which is in a differing genus. It grows mostly on dry heaths and moors wherever they may occur throughout the British Isles but is not found in large tracts of Central England. Near the coast it may be found in dune slacks and dune heaths (the latter are rare in the UK - there is one near Freshfield on the Sefton Coast). The leaves are 4 to 8mm long and needle-like (mainly because they are incurled). Bell Heather provides a lot of nectar and is visited by bees to make Heather Honey (other heathers will do as well, but Bell Heather is more abundant than those).
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Erica | cinerea | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Ericaceae |
Erica (Heaths) |
Heather Family [Ericaceae] |