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Heather

Heather

Calluna vulgaris

Identify the Heather from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Very common

Heather is a low, evergreen shrub of open, poor soils, common on heaths, moors, rocky ground and open pine woods. It has tiny needle-like leaves and many small pink bells in late summer. It grows widely across Europe and beyond, and is also planted in gardens.

Did you know?

  • Provincial flower of Kainuu.
  • Bees make a dark, strongly flavored heather honey from its late-summer bloom.

About the species

Identification

Low, evergreen shrub 10–40 cm tall with many upright, woody brown stems. Leaves are tiny (2–3 mm), narrow and needle-like, set in pairs and kept all year; very dense on non-flowering side shoots but more spaced on flowering shoots. Flowers are small bell-shaped, pink to purple (sometimes white), forming a one-sided row near the shoot tip in late summer. After flowering, a small round dry seed pod forms. Don’t confuse with cross‑leaved heath: it has larger, drooping pink bells in a tight cluster at the tip and grows in wetter bogs. Flowers in Finland in July–August.

Plant group

Dwarf shrubs

Habitat

heath forest

Flowering

Jul–Aug

About the habitat

Prefers sunny, nutrient-poor, acidic ground: dry heaths, open pine forests, sandy and rocky places, coastal heaths and edges of bogs. Common across Finland; scarce on the highest fells.

Sources

Photo: Aqwis (Aqwis), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CallunaVulgaris.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Kasvien talvi - Koululaisille: talvivihreät kasvit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38598

Text: Pinkka: Yläkoulun Pinkka - Kuiva kangasmetsä, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38598

Text: Pinkka: Suomen puuvartiset - Koppisiemeniset. Lähteet: Väre, H., Saarinen, J., Kurtto, A. & Hämet-Ahti, L. (toim.) 2021: Suomen puu- ja pensaskasvio. 3. täysin uudistettu p. – Publications of the Finnish Dendrological Society 10: 1–552 s., CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38598

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Metsät: kuivahkot kankaat, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38598

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Tunturit: tunturikankaat, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38598

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtö ja Västerskog, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.38598

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanerva

See also