Erica vagans
Common names
Cornish heath
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Flower colours
Red/Pink, White
Detailed description
A vigorous bushy evergreen shrub to 50-70 cm tall. It has feathery bright green foliage on ascending stems. The needle-like leaves (6-15 mm long) occur as whorls of 4, and roll outwards. The pink or rose flowers (often white in cultivation) are tubular to bell-shaped, and occur as small clusters in terminal or axillary panicles. The corolla is 3-4 mm long and hairless, with long black anthers, 6-15 mm long. Flowering takes place between Dec-May. Seed capsules have not been seen in NZ.
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ericaceae
Ecology
Flowering
December, January, February, March, April, May
Year naturalised
1981
Origin
West Europe
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
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.