The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c. 4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it the 14th most species-rich family of flowering plants. The many well known and economically important members of the Ericaceae include the cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, rhododendron, and various common heaths and heathers.
The Solanales are an order of flowering plants, included in the asterid group of dicotyledons. Some older sources used the name Polemoniales for this order.
Erica is a genus of roughly 857 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names heath and heather are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance. The genus Calluna was formerly included in Erica – it differs in having even smaller scale-leaves, and the flower corolla consisting of separate petals. Erica is sometimes referred to as "winter heather" to distinguish it from Calluna "summer heather".
Empetrum is a genus of three species of dwarf evergreen shrubs in the heath family Ericaceae. They are commonly known as crowberries and bear edible fruit. They are commonly found in the northern hemisphere, from temperate to subarctic climates, and also in the Southern Andes of South America and on the South Atlantic islands of South Georgia, the Falklands and Tristan da Cunha. The typical habitat is on moorlands, tundra, muskeg and spruce forests. They are also often found in areas of coastal exposure on the sand dunes and dune slacks.
A calcifuge is a plant that does not tolerate alkaline (basic) soil. The word is derived from the Latin 'to flee from chalk'. These plants are also described as ericaceous, as the prototypical calcifuge is the genus Erica (heaths). It is not the presence of carbonate or hydroxide ions per se that these plants cannot tolerate, but the fact that under alkaline conditions, iron becomes less soluble. Consequently, calcifuges grown on alkaline soils often develop the symptoms of iron deficiency, i.e. interveinal chlorosis of new growth. There are many horticultural plants which are calcifuges, most of which require an 'ericaceous' compost with a low pH, composed principally of Sphagnum moss peat. Alternatively sulphur chips may be used to lower soil pH.
Nyctaginaceae, the four o'clock family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions. The family has a distinctive fruit type called an accessory fruit or anthocarp, and many genera have extremely large pollen grains.
Schisandraceae is a family of flowering plants with 3 known genera and a total of 92 known species. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, at least for the past several decades. Before that, the plants concerned were assigned to family Magnoliaceae and Illiciaceae.
Asparagaceae, known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, Asparagus officinalis. This family includes both common garden plants as well as common houseplants. The garden plants include asparagus, yucca, bluebell, and hosta, and the houseplants include snake plant, corn cane, spider plant, and plumosus fern.
Ixiolirion is a genus of flowering plants native to central and southwest Asia, first described as a genus in 1821. Recent classifications place the group in the monogeneric family Ixioliriaceae in the order Asparagales of the monocots. In earlier systems of classification, it was usually placed in the family Amaryllidaceae.
× Phyllothamnus is a hybrid genus in the family Ericaceae with one known species, × Phyllothamnus erectus, an artificial hybrid between Phyllodoce empetriformis and Rhodothamnus chamaecistus, first described in 1850 as Bryanthus × erectus.
Tillandsioideae is a subfamily of plants in the bromeliad family Bromeliaceae. This subfamily contains the greatest number of species. Most are epiphytic or lithophytic, growing in trees or on rocks where they absorb water and nutrients from the air. Spanish moss of the genus Tillandsia is a well-known species. Bromeliads in the genera Guzmania and Vriesea are the more commonly cultivated members of this subfamily.
The Jardin botanique de Gondremer is a private botanical garden with national collections of rhododendrons and azaleas, kalmia, heathers, and Japanese maples, classified as a Jardin Remarquable by the French ministry of culture. It is located several kilometers east of Autrey and Housseras, Vosges, Grand Est, France, and open at specific periods suitable for the collections; an admission fee is charged.
Danaideae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains 67 species in 3 genera. Its representatives are found in Tanzania and several islands in the western Indian Ocean: Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar, and Réunion.
Bryanthus is a monotypic genus of ornamental plant in the flowering plant family Ericaceae, with the sole species Bryanthus musciformis, native to Japan, Kamchatka, and the Kuril Islands. The genus was created in 1769. In 2012, the new tribe Bryantheae was proposed based on genetic analysis, containing the genera Bryanthus and Ledothamnus.
Nepetoideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Lamiaceae.
× Phylliopsis is a nothogenus of flowering plants in the heath and heather family Ericaceae. Artificially created hybrids, they are the result of crosses between species of two distinct heath genera, Kalmiopsis and Phyllodoce. This type of intergeneric hybridization is quite rare, and is indicated by a multiplication symbol before the name. The name Phylliopsis is an example of a portmanteau word, a combination of the two parents' names. The cultivar × Phylliopsis 'Coppelia' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The RHS lists the nominal species name as Phylliopsis hillieri.
Ledothamnus is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Ericaceae. Its native range is Northern South America to Northern Brazil.
