Erica cinerea

Gray heather ( Erica cinerea)

The Grey heather ( Erica cinerea), also Grey -leaved heath called, is a heather plant. It is very popular ornamental plant as one of the frost- hard European heathers. Her small, dense, bell-shaped flowers appear from early summer to early autumn.

Description

The loosely branched, woody and evergreen chamaephytes reach stature heights between 20 and 60 centimeters. The needle-shaped leaves are 4-5 times up to 7 millimeters long. They are three of whorls and upright projecting to the stalk. They are bare and rolled over the edge.

The inflorescence is dense grapey and consists of numerous ovate - cylindrical, light purple (rarely white ) florets. The sepals are four-piece and 2 to 3 millimeters long. An outer cup is missing. The crown measuring 4-7 mm and includes eight stamens.

Dissemination

The Grey Heath has its distribution area in Western Europe to North Africa (Algeria). It grows from Ireland, Great Britain and Norway through the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. It is an Atlantic- Western European Florenelement and comes in Germany normally only found in the far west in the lower Rhine before.

The plant grows in dwarf shrub heath and Nardus grasslands on acidic, humus-rich, sandy- stony soils. Phytosociological it is the Kennart the order Erico - Ulicetalia and has a focal occurrence in association Genistion.