Erica ciliaris
Species of flowering plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Erica ciliaris, the dorset heath, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Erica.[1]
| Dorset heath | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Erica |
| Species: | E. ciliaris |
| Binomial name | |
| Erica ciliaris | |
Description
Distribution and habitat
Erica ciliaris has a Lusitanian distribution, stretching from Morocco in the south, along the Atlantic coasts of Portugal, Spain and France to south-western parts of the British Isles in the north.[2] In the British Isles, it is only found natively in Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and one location in County Galway,[3] where it lives in bogs and wet heaths.[4] It has also been introduced to Hampshire.[1]
In culture
E. ciliaris was voted the county flower of Dorset in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity Plantlife.[4]
