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Heather in the lowlands and southern
Britain. From the Heather
Society, Great Britain.
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Close examination will find the
darker purple bell heather, Erica cinerea growing on the drier sites and the pale
pink of the cross-leaved heath, Erica tetralix in the boggy parts.Ó From the Heather Society, Great Britain. |
Heather:
Calluna vulgaris & the ericas.
A personal introduction By O'God 2006
Encyclopedia and Dictionary Definitions
Medicinal & Other Uses
Scientific & Botanical Descriptions
Links to Heather Societies
Calluna vulgaris
True (Scotch) Heather
ÓThis plant is said to
open portals between this and the fairy world, and the Fae of this flower are
especially attracted to shy people. In Scotland, heather is said to be stained
with the blood of clan wars; thus, white is the luckiest heather and protects
against violent asault, especially rape. Sleeping on a pillow stuffed with this
magick herb can bring dreams foretelling good fortune. Burned outside with
fern, it brings rain, and in Ireland, it has been used to conjure the spirits
of the dead. In the Ogham alphabet, heather is U, Ura, and represents
midsummer. In Scotland before Midsummer, farmers would carry a torch made from
this plant clockwise around their fields to ensure a good crop and around their
cows to make sure they would be fertile. In Wales, heather was considered a
very lucky plant to have in the bridal bouquet. It makes a great besom for
ritual, and because it is Mercury,
it goes with all sorts of purposes and correspondences. Its sign is
Gemini.Ó
From
the Alchemy Works, NY, US at at http://www.alchemy-works.com. All reproduction requires permission of
Alchemy Works.
ÒIn the Celtic
Ogham alphabet, the letter U (ura) is associated with heather.
Element: Water. Planet: VenusÓ
From
About.com, Magickal Herbs by Terri
Paajanen,
I. A personal introduction. Heather was the name of my step
mother who was a native of England/Great Britain who ended up living in Vermont
here in the US. She was a wonderful person. So is my step sister KK. I guess they are the first people to
convince me being British wasnÕt all bad. So when I read that Phillip and Kernos wanted some ovates to
consider writing a report on various plants from the ogham I gravitated to this
one – the heather.
And now this plant, which I never really knew anything
about but always heard about, has done more of the same, like my step mother
and sister, convincing me about England and such – to the point now I am
really hoping to get over there. I
guess I ended up, after spending a lot of time studying and considering this
humble, common plant, right back where I started. To me, even after all my studies, and finding out it is now
a common garden plant around the world, it is studied for its medicinal
purposes in Sweden, written about in Finland personal web pages, sold by an
alchemy company in New York state in the United States, shipped around the
world, and living for centuries at the southernmost tips of Africa É heather
still remains a distinctly British plant associated with the moors É not the
moors of Spain and Morocco, but the cold, windy, wasted lands of Sherlock
Holmes, the Hound of the Baskervilles, and mystery, murder in the bogs, and all
that sort of thing.
Well, as with all, or most of what nature provides, thereÕs
more to a moor and, especially more to heather than I would have guessed. Not only has it practical and medicinal
usages, it provides for tanning hides and makes an ale. It blooms and makes the countryside
colorful and it endures without much water, food, and in harsh
circumstances. It is even
considered to have the psychic features of providing grounding, centering, and
stability É but all that will be described more fully below.
What is important to me that it taught me something –
it taught me my step mother, and my young step sister, werenÕt the only things
good about jolly old England, that some plants that werenÕt really natives to
North America are pretty cool things to know about, that even a common,
sometimes ugly looking, shrub is a thing of beauty, and most of all donÕt
prejudge things of which I know little or nothing and to take some time once in
awhile to look down and around at the amazing things there are to see and know
about.
So that brings
me to the real beginning of this report.
As you can read in the lengthy botanical description below heather is
used as a general term for the plants that cover heaths. Since I didn't
know what a heather plant or a ÒheathÓ really is or was I started there in my
researches. So É crane bag in hand
É off I went on me travels oer the great airwaves of the internet in search of
the heather.
Dictionary and
Encyclopedia Research – the first surprise -- Heather, Heath,
heathen, farm or rural land and people, Pagan are all related words.
First,
it was kind of humorous to find that Heath Row appears when you look up heath
on the Internet/Google. But of course, once I thought about it, the old Òheath
rowÓ must have been a street or a place with heath that was then replaced by an
airport outside of London. There is a town in Texas, U.S., named
Heath. People have the last name of heath. Forest Heath is a
district "in the heart of East Anglia," and it has its own website
where you can see all about the politics and issues of the area. A Samuel
Heath business is described as: "Manufacturers of bathroom
accessories and builders brassware." And, never forget, the popular
candy bar – the Heath Bar. That
was all interesting, but so far I couldn't find a definition or pictures of a
heath to suit my needs.
Finally, I had the
bright idea of starting with a dictionary ... so off I went. Voila.
II. DEFINITIONS OF HEATH AND HEATHER:
First,
I thought I would look for the history or derivation of the word heather or
heath. Finally, here it was, from:
The Online Etymological Dictionary
ÒHeath.
O.E. h¾ð "tract of wasteland,"
earlier "heather," infl. by O.N. heiðr
"field," from P.Gmc. *khaithijo (cf. O.S. hetha, O.H.G. heida
"heather," Du. heide "heath,"
Goth. haiþi "field"), from PIE *kait- "open, unplowed country" (cf. O.Ir. ciad, Welsh coed, Breton coet "wood, forest").Ó
And:
ÒHeather.
1335, hathir, from O.E. *h¾ddre, Scot. or northern
England dial. name for Calluna vulgaris, probably altered by heath,
but exact connection to that word uncertain.Ó
Then I
found heath and heather described as:
Heath
A low
evergreen shrub or small tree, native to Europe, Asia, N Africa, and especially
S Africa; leaves small, narrow to needle-shaped with inrolled margins, in
whorls of three or more; flowers often numerous, bell- or urn-shaped, pink,
purple, or white. It is often dominant on poor, acid soils of moors and
heathland, but some grow on alkaline soils. Many species are grown for
ornament. They are also called ericas, and are widely known as heathers, which is a source of possible confusion
with true heather, from which they are easily distinguished by the latter's
different leaves and four green sepals. (Genus: Erica, c.500 species. Family: Ericaceae.)
Heather
A small, bushy, evergreen shrub (Calluna vulgaris), native to Europe,
especially N and W; leaves in pairs, 1–2 mm/0á04–0á08 in,
scale-like with backward projecting basal lobes; flowers tiny, in loose spikes,
four sepals, four petals, all purple; also called ling. Often the dominant
plant on acid soils, especially heathland and moors, in Scotland it forms the
major food source of endemic red grouse. A rare form with white flowers is
considered lucky. (Family: Ericaceae.)
And,
Wikipedia says:
ÒHeather may be:
- In botany, the plant Calluna vulgaris, or, more loosely, various species of
the closely related genera Erica and Cassiope, low evergreen shrubs (also called
"heaths"). The term is also used
to describe land which is vegetated with these plants.
- In apparel or textiles, interwoven yarns with a flecked
grayish color, from their resemblance to a field of Heather.
- A popular feminine forename, named after the plant. The
film Heathers takes its name from this forename.
- A well known print by William R Symonds.Ó
Turning
to a more common traditional dictionary for definitions of heath and heather in
the The American Heritage¨ Dictionary of the English Language:
Fourth Edition. 2000:
Òheath.
NOUN: 1.
Any of various usually low-growing shrubs of the genus Erica and related genera, native to Europe and
South Africa and having small evergreen leaves and small, colorful, urn-shaped
flowers. Also called heather.
2. An extensive tract of
uncultivated open land covered with herbage and low shrubs; a moor. ETYMOLOGY: Middle English, uncultivated
land, from Old English h
th. See kaito- É.Ó
ÒIndo-European
Roots. kaito- Forest, uncultivated land. 1. heath, from Old English h th,
heath, untilled land, from Germanic *haithiz. 2a. heathen, from Old English h
then, heathen, ÒsavageÓ (< Òone inhabiting uncultivated landÓ); b. hoyden,
from Middle Dutch heiden, heathen. Both a and b from Germanic *haithinaz.
(Pokorny kaito- 521.)Ó
Aha! There was more to this than initially meets the eye, or my addled brain. There it was – another connection: heather is related to Òheathen.Ó Now that was getting really interesting. The game was afoot in the Holmesian sense. So next I had to find out more about that related term.
There it
was ÒheathenÓ,from http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorh.htm:
ÒHeathen
This word
for non-Christian or pagan is common in all the Germanic languages. It appears
in Old English as h‰þen in the year 826. It clearly arose after
Christianity, but had to be quite early for it to appear in all the Germanic
tongues, sometime in the 4th century or earlier. Most words of this age have
unclear etymologies, but this is not the case with heathen.
It is
believed to have originated in Gothic and spread to the other Germanic tribes.
In the 4th century, Ulfilas, bishop of the Goths, translated the Bible into
Gothic. In Mark 7:26, which reads "Now the woman was a Greek, a
Syrophoenician by birth...," Ulfilas used the word haiþn™ in place of Greek, or as it appears in the Vulgate gentilis, or gentile. Haiþn™
literally means dweller on the heath. So the original sense is
remarkably the same as the modern sense, someone living beyond the bounds of
civilization and who has not received the word of God.
So,
heathen
has a remarkably similar semantic history as pagan.
This
hypothesis is not universally accepted however. Some point out that Ulfilas may
have been influenced by Armenian and that heathen instead is related to the Armenian het'anos, which is derived from the Greek ethnos, meaning nation or people.Ó
And, pagan
is described as:
ÒPagan
While the
etymology is very different, this word developed in a similar semantic pattern
as heathen.
The
English word pagan is
from the Latin paganus
or someone who lives in a rural district, or pagus. In Latin, the word meant a villager or
rustic, and was also used as an antonym for miles, or soldier.
The term
appears in English in the 14th century. In English usage, it means a
non-Christian, or someone who is not a soldier of Christ, a sense that had
developed in the Latin by the 4th century AD.Ó
So now I
knew -- heather is a low growing shrub that is found in heaths (and moors) in
Europe, at least. And it is has a history that associates it with country
or rural settings which ties it to the history of the word pagan. This is
what I call cool, fun stuff to learn.
So on I went and looked up pagan in another dictionary, at Reference.com, and found the
following:
ÒOrigins
and meanings of the term
The
etymology of the term pagan
can be traced. According to Harry Thurston Peck, Harper's Dictionary of
Classical Antiquity (1897)
the Latin noun paganus was used to mean "country dweller,
villager" and originally had no denigrating connotations. The derived
adjective meant "rural",
"rustic" or "of the country". It is a cognate of the word "peasant."
In its
distant origins, these usages derived from pagus, "something stuck in the ground,"
as a landmark. The root pag
means "fixed" and is also the source of the words "page",
"pale (stake)", and "pole", as well as "pact" and
"peace". Later, through metaphorical use, paganus came to mean 'rural district, village' and
'country dweller' and, as the Roman Empire declined into military
autocracy and anarchy, in the 4th and 5th centuries it came to mean
"civilian", in a sense parallel to the English usage "the
locals". It was only after the Roman
introduction of serfdom, in which agricultural workers were legally bound to the
land (see Serf), that it began to have negative
connotations, and imply the simple ancient religion of country people, which Virgil had mentioned with respect in Georgics. Like its approximate synonym heathen (see below), it was adopted by Middle English-speaking
Christians as a slur to refer to those too
rustic to embrace Christianity.
Neoplatonists in the Early Christian church
attempted to Christianize the values of sophisticated pagans such as Plato and Virgil. This had some influence among the
literate class, but did little to counter the more general prejudice expressed in "pagan".Ó
Summary
of the Research Up to this Point:
That was it –
heather was a low growing shrub, covering areas that nobody else would normally
want to live if they were used to the city or the urban pax romano cheesey
places. Heather was hardy. Heather didnÕt give in and, humble as
it was, it was strong, beautiful (at least part of the year), and a symbol of
the strong, determined, and persistent people of the countryside – just
like us pagan, earth worshipping druid types – hanging on for centuries
no matter how tough and rough the circumstances.
Now I
thought, what was it really good for besides covering up the earth in the moors
and serving as a symbol of humanity and human traits that I liked? So on I went to the practical,
medicinal, and spiritual usages I went.
III.
Practical, medicinal, and spiritual usages.
As
you will see heather can be used for making ale, tanning hides, making teas and
potions for various purposes, and is considered by some to contribute to mental
and relationship well being. I
would summarize it all as itÕs a hardy, centered, stable, gravitational plant
which I will now use in my ceremonies for those purposes.
A. Practical
Uses: Ale, tanning hides, fire, baskets, and such.
To
start with, I got to do this first – it can make an ale. According to the Home DistillerÕs
website the following recipe works (no wonder so many of our gaelic ancestors
seem to have gravitated to the moors Ôn high country:
From: Home Distiller
Wilma
Paterson who hails from Skye, also gives her recipe for Heather Ale using
heather (Erica cinerea; Erica tetralix, Calluna vulgaris) instead of hops. She
says that there are records of heather being used as late as the 18th and 19th
centuries.
Heather Ale:
á
1 gallon (4.5
litres) heather tops
á
2 lb (1 kg)
malt extract
á
1 and 1/2 lb
(700 g) sugar
á
3 gals (13.5
l) water
á
1 oz (30 g)
yeast
Cut
the heather tops with scissors when in full bloom, but not overblown, and boil
them in 1 gal (4.5 l) of the water for nearly an hour. Strain on to the malt
extract and sugar through a jelly bag and stir till dissolved. Add remaining
water and , when lukewarm, add the dried yeast.
___________________________________
Heather
also contains chemicals that are used in tanning hides – tannins which
make the tannic acid that makes the animal skins preserved and flexible. (ThatÕs a whole nother story for
later.). There were also
references to heather as being used for fire, baskets (and IÕd imagine woven
shoes or soles of shoes), and for decorative flowers. From the Plants for a Future website describing other uses:
Basketry; Besom; Dye; Fuel; Ground cover; Hedge; Insulation; Musical; Tannin; Thatching.
The
branches have many uses, including in thatching, as a bedding or a stuffing for
mattresses, for insulation, basketry, rope making and for making brooms[6, 7,
11, 46, 61, 66, 100, 254]. The dried branches are a good fuel[6, 66]. The
rootstock can be made into musical pipes[254]. A yellow dye is obtained from
the plant[7, 46, 61]. The bark is a source of tannin[46]. Heather can be grown
as a low hedge and is quite useful as an edging to beds. It is fairly amenable
to trimming[29]. A useful ground cover plant for covering dry banks[188, 197].
The cultivar 'White Lawn' has been recommended[188]. All except the very dwarf
cultivars will need trimming each spring in order to keep them compact[208].
B. Medicinal
Uses
The following discussions are presented at
various web sites for more and less traditional individuals and organizations:
_______________________________
The Cairngorms Moorland Project describes the medicinal uses of heather as
follows: Heather flowers and plants have been
gathered for centuries to be made into herbal medicines From the Cairngorm Moorland Project
ÓRemedies believed to be derived from heather included cystitis, diarrhoea, hay
fever and dandruff!
Heather tops were infused and used as a tonic to treat consumption, coughs,
nerves, depression and heart complaints. Heather tea, liniments and ointments
were used to help treat arthritis and rheumatism.
Heather (Calluna vulgaris) flowers come into bloom at the start of August. The
sight of the flowers en masse is as refreshing to the eye as they are to the
tongue in a cup of Ômoorland teaÕ.
In 1543 one writer guaranteed that heather plants could ease insect bites
whilst another used the plant in drug form to heal snake bites, eye infections,
infections of the spleen and to prevent stones forming in the internal organs.
Nicolas Alexandre, a Benedictine monk, believed
that boiling the stems and drinking the brew for 30 days could dissolve kidney
stones – he also stated that the patient should bathe in the heather
water.
Around the time of WWI, heather was used as a household remedy for all kinds of
illnesses and complaints and was recommended to nursing mothers to help them
produce more milk!
Medicinal herbalists still use heather to treat cystitis and to use as a
diuretic and anti-microbial.
In certain mountainous regions of Europe, heather continues to be used to make
a liniment for arthritis and rheumatism, and a hot poultice made from the flowers
is still a traditional remedy for chilblains.
I think you'll agree that heather is a truly amazing plant with so many medicinal properties!Ó
|
|
Heather (Calluna vulgaris) flowers just about to come
into bloom at the start of August. The sight of the flowers en masse is as
refreshing to the eye as they are to the tongue in a cup of Ômoorland teaÕ. |
___________________
And, from the Flora health products website,
comes the following:
Overview
According
to European folk medicine, heather herb and flowers, Calluna vulgaris L. [Fam. Ericaceae], were traditionally
used as a tea for purifying the blood, stimulating metabolism, treating
gastrointestinal disorders and reducing inflammation and gravel of the urinary
system. Heather herb and flowers were also used in Swedish traditional medicine
to treat inflammatory diseases and wounds. Heather contains many antimicrobial
compounds and even honey made from heather flowers has been shown to have high
antibacterial activity compared to many other types of honey. Heather tea was
also used as a folk remedy for alleviating bone and joint inflammation, for
normalizing low blood pressure and for treating other vascular disorders. A
study to evaluate the benefits of heather tea for preventing blood platelet
stickiness and blood clots tested the inhibitory activity of the tea on
prostaglandin biosynthesis and platelet activating factor (PAF) effects and
found that heather was active in both assays and was the most potent out of 52
plant extracts examined at inhibiting an oxidizing enzyme called
cyclooxygenase. Heather has also been used in folk medicine both as a tea and a
bath to stimulate cellular regeneration and to combat abnormal growths through
cleansing and detoxification of the body. Studies have shown that a
water-Calluna vulgaris extract (water-CVE) is a relatively specific inhibitor
of another oxidizing enzyme called arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase and shows potent
anti-proliferative effects on abnormal human white blood cells. These results
suggest that metabolites of this enzyme and/or leukotrienes play an essential
role in cellular functions of these cells and may explain the successful use of
Calluna vulgaris as tea and baths in folk medicine. The active compound
isolated and purified from heather flowers was characterized as ursolic acid.
Ursolic acid also inhibits lipoxygenase activity and DNA synthesis in HL60
abnormal white blood cells.
Active
Ingredients:
The leaves
and flowers of heather contain: Approximately 7% tannins; alkaloids including
ericodin; arbutin; carotene; ursolic acid; citric acid; flavone glycosides;
flavonoids; essential oil; fumaric acid; tannic-acid; silicic acid; methyl
arbutine; myricitrin; organic-acid; mucilage; quercitrin; saponins. A new
quercetin has also been identified:
3-[2,3,4-triacetyl-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl
(1-->6)-beta-D-galactoside] along with 5,7-dihydroxychromone and
5,7-dihydroxychromone 7-beta-D-glucoside from fresh flowers of Calluna
vulgaris. [Information from: Gotfredson, E. 2001. Liber Herbarum II: The
incomplete reference-guide to Herbal medicine; and Healthlink].
Suggested
Amount:
Unless
otherwise prescribed, boiling water is poured over 1-2 grams of finely chopped heather
and after ten minutes strained. Heather tea is taken 3 times per day.
Heather tea is not recommended for prolonged use, due to the high tannin
content of the leaves that may damage the liver and alimentary canal.
Contraindications:
Heather
tea is not recommended for prolonged use, due to the high tannin content of the
leaves that may damage the alimentary canal and liver.
In the
footnotes to the site we discover that heather has anti-cancer, anti-leukemia
potential uses:
Najid
A, Simon A, Delage C, Chulia AJ, Rigaud M. 1992. A Calluna vulgaris extract
5-lipoxygenase inhibitor shows potent effects on human leukemia HL-60 cells.
Eicosanoids 1992; 5(1): 45-51.
Simon A, Najid A, Chulia AJ, Delage C,
Rigaud M. 1992. Inhibition of lipoxygenase activity and HL60 leukemic cell
proliferation by ursolic acid isolated from heather flowers (Calluna vulgaris).
Biochim Biophys Acta
1992 Apr 8; 1125(1): 68-72.
From http://personal.inet.fi/koti/brody/herblist.html:
Calluna vulgaris - Heather - Kanerva
General: Heather grows in abundance in most of Finland. Only
in the most northern parts of the country it is rarer. It favours dry forests
and heaths and bare grounds.
Parts used: The flowerheads
should be gathered in the end of July or beginning of August and hung down in
bundles. The bundles should be kept in a dark and dry place.
Usage: Like Bearberry, Heather
is a diuretic and it has long been used to treat infections of the urinary
passages. Heather removes uric acid from the body and it is used in arthritis.
A bath, made of Heather is effective in relieving rheumatic pain. It is also
mildly sedative and I sometimes like to drink Heather tea before going to bed
to get peaceful dreams.
Recipies: Soak an armful of
Heathers in the bathwater for 10 minutes. Bathe in it twice a day 15 minutes at
a time, to relieve rheumatic pain.
At the Scottish School of Herbal Medicinestudy has been done of the medicinal qualities of heather:
The
Therapeutic Properties of Calluna vulgaris - A Qualitive Controlled Goethean
Trial.
Abstract
The
object of the project was to assess the evidence for the therapeutic properties
of Calluna vulgaris using the holistic Goethean Science methodological approach
to conduct a qualitative Goethean Science based trial.
Calluna vulgaris was chosen as a Scottish indigenous herb little used in the
modern herbal clinic. 20 volunteer herbal students performed a blind tasting of
Calluna vulgaris tincture and recorded their impressions on a questionnaire.
The results were then compared to existing medicinal uses of Calluna vulgaris.
From the literature search the main therapeutic actions of heather were as a
relaxing nervine and a urinary diuretic antiseptic. The results of the trial
overwhelmingly confirmed the relaxing properties with 94% of volunteers registering
this response. On the other hand there was no evidence at all to substantiate
the diuretic action as not one single volunteer recorded this.
The study group, who on average recorded a strong astringent sensation,
confirmed the old usage of Calluna vulgaris as a tanning agent for leather, and
its modern day claim as a medical astringent. This may form the basis for
further investigation.
From
Plants for a Future
Medicinal
Use:
Heather
has a long history of medicinal use in folk medicine. In particular it is a
good urinary antiseptic and diuretic, disinfecting the urinary tract and mildly
increasing urine production[254]. The flowering shoots are antiseptic,
astringent, cholagogue, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, mildly
sedative and vasoconstrictor[7, 8, 9, 21, 165, 238]. The plant is often
macerated and made into a liniment for treating rheumatism and arthritis,
whilst a hot poultice is a traditional remedy for chilblains[7, 254]. An
infusion of the flowering shoots is used in the treatment of coughs, colds,
bladder and kidney disorders, cystitis etc[9, 238, 254]. A cleansing and
detoxifying plant, it has been used in the treatment of rheumatism, arthritis and
gout[254]. The flowering stems are harvested in the autumn and dried for later
use[7]. The plant is used in Bach flower remedies - the keywords for
prescribing it are 'Self-centredness' and 'Self-concern'[209]. A homeopathic
remedy is made from the fresh branches[9]. It is used in the treatment of
rheumatism, arthritis and insomnia[9].
____________________
C. Psychic
& Spiritual Uses
From Magickal Herbs by Terri Paaganen, About.com. In Magickal Herbs by Terri Paajanen, comes the following summary:
ÒHeather is used in weather magick, often with fern. Burning the two herbs together can attract rain, or simply wetting them and sprinkling drops of water onto the ground.
Another ritual use for heather is to call positive spirits and energy. You can also carry heather flowers for good luck and protection. If you are doing rituals for initiation or self-dedication, you might want to include heather blossoms. They are associated with beginnings and self-discovery.
Heather can also bring peace to a home or between 2 people when there is conflict.Ó
From the Alchemy Works, Inc. NY,
USA. The Alchemy Works
in New York state, in the United States, has a great article about heather
– the best article I could find so far about it from a druidical
perspective:
|
|
And, from About.com, under the topic ÒHealth &
Fitness -> Holistic Healing -> Holistic Therapies ->
Herbs and Flowers ->
Flower Essence Therapy ->
A to Z Flower Essences ->
Heather - Calluna vulgarisÓ (at the following address: ):
ÒHeather
Flower
Essence Remedy
Latin Name:
Calluna vulgaris
Purpose:
Heather flower essence is beneficial to those who are consumed with self
interests, self indulgence, or overly concerned with one's own problems. It
helps one to move away from their unbalanced inward focus. It offers a better
perspective, so that a person can learn to use their own suffering as a
resource well that can be drawn from to offer compassion and caring to others.
Positive Qualities:
á
selflessness
á
self-discipline
á
inner calm
á
compassion for
others Ò
IV.
SCIENTIFIC & BOTANICAL DESCRIPTIONS AND INFORMATION
A
brief description of heath and the heather plants from Wikipedia:
"Heath" comes from Old English
h¾ð "tract of wasteland", from Proto-Germanic *khaiþijo (cognate with Old Irish ciad; see also heather, heathen) refers to a wild meadow or open, unploughed country, see Heath (habitat).
- It can
refer specifically, to several related genera of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, growing in this habitat:
- Erica (the genus most
widely so known)
- Calluna
- Cassiope
- Daboecia
- Epacris (a.k.a.
Australian Heath)
- Leucopogon (Beard-heath)
- Phyllodoce
A thorough description and investigation in heather from the Heather
Society, Great Britain at http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/heather/. This is a Òmust go toÓ site if you want
to learn about and see heather.
The Heather Society describes heather as follows:
The Heather Family
The family Ericaceae
to which heather belongs has many genera and species, including Rhododendron. The name 'heather' encompasses four genera.
Strictly speaking, the word heather encompasses only the genus Calluna, but it is
also used as a general term to cover heaths which are principally made up of
two other genera, Erica and Daboecia.
Botanically, Calluna differs from Erica
and Daboecia by its tailed leaves without a stalk. Andromeda is the
other genera and are much less widely grown as garden plants.
Andromeda
polifolia
A dwarf plant of the northern
hemisphere found in Europe, North America and Japan. The majority of the
species grown in gardens emanate from the Japanese population where they are
found on well separated mountains, each having distinctive groups of plants.
Requiring an acid soil, this species has wiry stems and narrow elliptic
leathery leaves. The small pink flowers are usually freely borne in spring and
summer. Suitable for USDA hardiness zone 2.
Bruckenthalia
spiculifolia
Now considered to be an Erica, and thus
should be known as Erica spiculifolia
Calluna vulgaris (Ling, Scotch heather)
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A monotypic genus of evergreen
shrubs which is found from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, following the
seaboard of Western Europe and extending as far eastwards as the Ural
mountains. It has become naturalised in eastern Canada from seed contained in
packing material used by early settlers. |
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Heather is commonplace on the
moorlands of northern Europe and plays an important role in the ecology of
highland regions but it is also found on the dry lowland heaths of western
Europe. Grouse, deer and many smaller mammals, reptiles and insects depend on
heather to some degree or another for food and cover. Man, too, has made good
use of heather through the ages using it for thatching, ropes, bedding and has
even made ale from it! Perhaps the most well known use, today, is heather
honey.
The name Calluna
derives from the Greek word kallunein which means to cleanse, which
probably derives from the use of heather twigs as brooms, or from its medicinal
properties for treatment of a number of internal disorders. The word heather is
thought to derive from a Scottish word haeddre but many variations can
be found dating from the 14th century. Another word from that time is the Norse
word lyng meaning light (as in weight) no doubt alluding the practice
of cutting heather turf for fuel (which is light when dry, compared to grass
turf), yet another use of this versatile plant.
Normally Calluna
has slightly fleshy linear leaves 2mm (1/10in) long in opposite and closely
overlapping pairs, usually dark green becoming purplish in winter. However the
species is very variable, from prostrate, 5 x 45cm (2 x 18in), to erect and
spreading 60 x 75cm (24 x 30in) with leaves ranging in colour from dark green
to bright green, grey, yellow, orange and red which can be glabrous or
hairy. The flowering time varies; in the northern part of the distribution it
blooms from June to August, whilst in the southern part of the distribution it
blooms from August to November. The white to crimson flowers, held usually in
one-sided racemes,
are normally single with the corolla in four
oblong petals, 3mm (1/8in) long, overlapped by a calyx of similar
size and colour. Double and bud-flowering
forms also exist and generally flower later.
It is an important garden plant
providing colour throughout the year. Often gardens are devoted to the growing
of heathers with perhaps dwarf conifers and other ericaceous plants, and
provide a haven for many species of butterflies. In general, a well maintained
heather garden will last 20 years. All are suitable for hardiness zone 5 but
some cultivars
are suitable for zone 4.
Daboecia
A genus of two species of low
evergreen shrubs, D. cantabrica found in W. Ireland,
S.W. France and N.W. Iberia, and D. azorica emanating
from the Azores. The hybrid, D. x scotica,
is of garden origin.
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Daboecia
azorica
This small evergreen shrub, 20cm
(8in) high spreading to 40cm (16in), is found in the Azores up to a height of
2000m (7000ft) but is only half hardy. The leaves are lanceolate, 5mm (1/5in)
long, 5mm (1/5in) wide, dark green above, silver grey below and more recurved
than D. cantabrica. The ruby crimson urceolate flowers
are borne above the foliage in early summer. It is distinguished from D. cantabrica by the smaller leaves and the lack of hairs on
the corolla.
It prefers acid soil conditions. It is only suitable for zone 8 if given some
protection.
Daboecia cantabrica (St. Dabeoc's Heath)
This hardy evergreen sub-shrub, 40 x 70cm (16 x 28in), has glossy dark green lanceolate leaves, white on the underside, 1.5cm (2/3in) long, 6mm (1/4in) wide and normally l