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  1. Family: Ericaceae Durande

    1. Erica Tourn. ex L.

        2. This genus is accepted, and its native range is Europe to Arabian Pen, Africa.

    [FZ]

    Ericaceae, R. Ross. Flora Zambesiaca 7:1. 1983

    Habit
    Trees, shrubs, or sub–shrubs, usually much branched with flexuously ascending sterns.
    Stem
    Branchlets slender.
    Leaves
    Leaves normally in whorls of 3–6 (3–4 in the F.Z. area), or occasionally spirally insertedd, very small, the margins usually revolute and meeting in the centre line on the under side of the leaf to form a sulcus.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence normally consisting of capitate clusters of up to 20 flowers on the tips of the branchlets, but sometimes spicate with the flowers in the axils of leaves on branches whose vegetative growth may continue after flowering. Pedicels short and 1–flowered, normally bearing 1 bract and 2 opposite bracteoles, but sometimes either the bract or the bracteoles, very rarely both, missing.
    Flowers
    Calyx and corolla actinomorphic and hypogynous.
    Calyx
    Calyx segments 4, free or fused to a greater or lesser extent.
    Corolla
    Corolla globular to tubular, 4–lobed, the lobes usually appreciably shorter than the tube, in the F.Z. area rather to very small, always less than 1 cm.
    Stamens
    Stamens normally 8, rarely fewer (4–7) or more (12); filaments free, insertedd on a hypogynous disc, often geniculate below the anthers; anthers often with appendages, dehiscing by lateral pores.
    Ovary
    Ovary 4 (8) loculate, placentation axile.
    Style
    Style 1, more or less expanded at the apex.
    Fruits
    Fruit a cartilaginous loculicidal capsule contained within the persistent calyx and corolla.
    Seeds
    Seeds several per loculus.
    [FTEA]

    Ericaceae, Henk Beentje. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2006

    Habit
    Trees or shrubs, the shrubs sometimes very small, usually much branched
    Leaves
    Leaves in whorls of 3– 6 or occasionally spirally inserted, very small, slightly fleshy, the underside of the leaf often with a distinct sulcus
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence of axillary flowers, in 1– several whorls arranged in elongate racemose to umbellate groups, either at the ends of leafy lateral branches or on very reduced lateral branches or on the main branches Pedicels short, normally bearing 1 bract (at base, resembling a leaf; on the pedicel; or adjacent to the calyx and resembling a sepal) and 2 opposing bracteoles(in various positions: from basal to appressed to the calyx; rarely missing)
    Calyx
    Calyx segments 3– 4, free or fused, but the situation becomes complicated when bract and/or bracteoles are appressed to the calyx and true sepals in that case may be few or even (as in E. rossii ) completely absent and replaced by bracts/bracteoles
    Corolla
    Corolla hypogynous, globular to tubular, 4-lobed (in ours), the lobes usually shorter than the tube
    Stamens
    Stamens 4– 8; filaments free, inserted on the hypogynous disc, often geniculate; anthers often with appendages, dehiscing by lateral pores
    Pistil
    Ovary 3– 4-locular (in ours), placentation axile; style 1, ± expanded at apex
    Fruits
    Fruit a loculicidal capsule, contained within the persistent calyx and corolla
    Seeds
    Seeds several.
    [FZ]

    Ericaceae, R. Ross. Flora Zambesiaca 7:1. 1983

    Leaves
    Leaves in whorls of 3 or 4 (always 3 in the F.Z. area), very small, the margins reflexed.
    Inflorescences
    Pedicels short and 1–flowered, normally bearing one bract and two opposite bracteoles, but the bracteoles sometimes absent. Inflorescence consisting of clusters of flowers at the tips of the branchlets.
    Calyx
    Calyx and corolla hypogynous, tetramerous. Calyx actinomorphic, segments free to the base.
    Corolla
    Corolla crateriform to campanulate to slightly urceolate, or tubular below and campanulate to crateriform above, actinomorphic or when a tubular portion is present this is often somewhat bent.
    Stamens
    Stamens 4; filaments free, inserted on a hypogynous disc; anthers often with appendages, dehiscing by lateral pores.
    Ovary
    Ovary 4–loculate, placentation axile.
    Style
    Style 1, somewhat expanded at the apex.
    Fruits
    Fruit a cartilaginous loculicidal capsule contained within the persistent calyx and corolla.
    Seeds
    Seeds several per loculus.
    Habit
    Shrubs or subshrubs to about 1 m. tall, much branched with slender and flexous stems often with many dwarfed side branches in the axils of their leaves.
    [FZ]

    Ericaceae, R. Ross. Flora Zambesiaca 7:1. 1983

    Habit
    Much branched trees or shrubs with flexuously ascending stems.
    Stem
    Branchlets slender.
    Leaves
    Leaves in whorls of 3 or 4, very small, the outer margins reflexed, normally to such an extent that they meet along the mid–line of the under side of the leaf, forming a sulcus; often glandular at the tip and along the apparent margin.
    Flowers
    Flowers small, in capitate clusters of up to about 12 flowers, but usually fewer, at the tips of the branchlets.
    Inflorescences
    Pedicels without bracts.
    Calyx
    Calyx and corolla hypogynous, 4–partite, occasionally 3–partite in some flowers, regularly 3–partite in some species not in the F.Z. region. Calyx with one sepal longer than the others, and this sepal usually free and leaf–like at the tip, other sepals connate to a variable extent, sometimes leaf–like at the tip.
    Corolla
    Corolla actinomorphic, campanulate to urceolate, not deeply cleft, lobes obtuse.
    Stamens
    Stamens in one species 4 and opposite the calyx lobes, in the other species (5) 6–8 (10), anthers without appendages, in some species connate, in others free, opening by narrowly elliptical pores on the outer side of the upper part of each lobe.
    Ovary
    Ovary 3–4–locular, placentation axile.
    Style
    Style 1, expanded at the apex normally into a disc bearing the stigmatic surfaces on its upper side, but in one species in the F.Z. region expansion at the tip of the style broadly conical and the areas bearing the stigmatic surfaces somewhat depressed.
    Fruits
    Fruit a cartilaginous loculicidal capsule contained within the persistent calyx and corolla.
    [FZ]

    Ericaceae, R. Ross. Flora Zambesiaca 7:1. 1983

    Habit
    Much branched shrubs or sub–shrubs with slender branchlets.
    Leaves
    Leaves in whorls of 3 or 4, very small, acicular, the outer margin reflexed and meeting in the mid line on the under side of the leaf.
    Flowers
    Flowers small, in capitate clusters of 3–16 at the tips of the branchlets.
    Inflorescences
    Pedicels without bracts.
    Calyx
    Calyx with one sepal longer than the other 3, leaf–like, free and inserted immediately below the others. Calyx and corolla tetramerous, hypogynous and persistent in fruit.
    Corolla
    Corolla actinomorphic, campanulate to tubular.
    Stamens
    Stamens 4; anthers with appendages.
    Pistil
    Style slender; stigma narrowly to broadly infundibuliform.
    Ovary
    Ovary globose, quadrilocular, capsule loculicidal.

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Albania, Algeria, Angola, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Chad, Comoros, Corse, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Free State, Føroyar, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kriti, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Madeira, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Réunion, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Uganda, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

    Introduced into:

    California, Connecticut, Crozet Is., Hawaii, Maine, Masachusettes, Netherlands, New Hampshire, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Australia, Tasmania, West Virginia

    Erica Tourn. ex L. appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Hedberg, O. [93121], Cameroon K000087433

    First published in Sp. Pl.: 352 (1753)

    Accepted by

    • Nelson, E.C. (2011). Hardy Heathers from the Northern Hemisphere: 1-442. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Geerinck, D. (2009). Révision du genre Erica L. (Ericaceae) en Afrique centrale Taxonomania 28: 6-16.
    • Govaerts, R. (2001). World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS E-F: 1-50919.

    Literature

    Flora Zambesiaca
    • Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 167 (1754).
    • Sp. Pl.–1: 352 (1753)
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • in Contrib. Bolus Herb. 19: 1– 483 (2000)
    • in K.B. 48: 771– 780 (1993)
    • E.G.H.Oliv. in S.Afr. J. Bot. 53: 455– 458 (1987)
    • L., Gen. Pl. ed. 5: 167 (1754)
    • Sp. Pl. 1: 352 (1753)

    Sources

    Flora Zambesiaca
    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2019. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0