| 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 | |
Erica ciliaris, the dorset heath, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Erica. [1]
It grows to 60 centimetres (24 inches), and has leaves 2–4 millimetres (1⁄16–3⁄16 in) long, with long, glandular hairs. [1] The flowers are 8–12 mm (3⁄8–1⁄2 in) long, bright pink, and arranged in long racemes. [1]
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]
E. ciliaris was voted the county flower of Dorset in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity Plantlife. [4]
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