Calluna vulgaris
Heather
How do you recognise heather?
A woody dwarf shrub growing 10–50 cm tall. The leaves are tiny and needle-like and sit in opposite pairs along the stem. The flower is a pale pink bell whose rim splits into four lobes with the stamens pushing out, and the flowers form a one-sided spike near the shoot tip.
What is it confused with?
Crowberry also has needle-like leaves, but its flowers are inconspicuous and its berry is black. Cross-leaved heath has larger bell flowers and leaves in whorls.
Where does heather grow, and when does it flower?
Heather favours dryish, open, acidic ground: rock outcrops, heath forest, and pine bogs. It is common throughout the country and flowers in July and August.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Heather is common across the country, and one flowering shoot is enough for a herbarium.
Did you know?
Heather flowers late in the summer, when most other plants have finished, which makes it an important nectar source for bees. White-flowered plants turn up occasionally.
Where does heather grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
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Observations: GBIF · Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org, maaseuduntulevaisuus.fi
Identify plants with your phone
Linnea identifies a plant from a photo and tells you its name and its story. Every find takes its own numbered place in your herbarium, with the day and the town where you found it.
