Erica caffra
Common names
hedge heath
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Detailed description
Erect shrub up to about 3 m. Shoots are densely white-pilose. Leaves to about 13 mm. Small white (occasionally pink) bell-shaped flowers held in small clusters on then end of small shoots coming off the main stems. Capsule to about 2.5 mm long.
Similar taxa
One of the few species of the genus with fragrant flowers. Also the carolla is obviously hairy on the outside. These characters and the longer leaves distinguish it from E. lusitanica for which it has been mistaken.
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ericaceae
Ecology
Flowering
July, August, September, October
Year naturalised
1940
Origin
South Africa
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Life cycle and dispersal
Reproduces by seed (many are produced). Dispersed by wind, gravity and humans.
Other information
Etymology
erica: From the Greek ereika ‘heath’ or ‘heather’
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ERICAF