Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Bell Heather, Erica cinerea, Fraoch cloigíneach
Photographs: Inchigeela, Co. Cork

Bell Heather
Erica cinerea
Fraoch cloigíneach
Family: Ericaceae

Flowering time: June-September. Evergreen. Native.

Short spikes of bright red-purple (occasionally white) flowers with narrow hairless sepals. Dark green stalked leaves grow in whorls of 3, the leaf margins rolled back and hiding the lower surface. Tufts of leaves in axils. Erect, straggly growth. Height: 45-60cm

Acidic heaths and moorland. Abundant except in central Ireland.

Related: Irish Heath, E. erigena. Taller (to 150cm) and only found on bogs and wet heaths in Galway and Mayo. Part of Lusitanian Flora.

Bell Heather, Erica cinerea, Fraoch cloigíneach

Bell Heather, Erica cinerea, Fraoch cloigíneach
Bell Heather, Erica cinerea, Fraoch cloigíneach

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