Heather
size:
20 to 100 centimeters
color:
flowers: pink, purple-red or white
blossoms:
July through September
pollination:
insects, wind pollination
reproduction:
seed
life span:
perennial
- Ned: Struikheide
- Lat: Calluna vulgaris
- Eng: Heather
- Dui: Besenheide, Heidekraut
- Fren: Callune; Bruyere commune
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- Heather, Ecomare
Heather
Heather turns fields purple in the summer. It is the dominant species in the heathlands of the northern Dutch dunes and on high sandy grounds more inland. By the time bog heather has flowered, common heather starts to blossoms. It takes 3 to 4 years for a plant to flower. And after 15 years, it becomes very woody and flowerless. Common heather is an important plant for insects that consume nectar and pollen, such as mining bees, butterflies and moths.
- Verspreiding and habitat
- , Sytske Dijksen, www.fotofitis.nl
South of the 'heather boundary' near Bergen, the old dunes are too nutrient-rich and the young dunes contain too much calcium for common heather. Common heather grows here together with crowberry. When sand drift becomes too prominent, heather moves landwards while crowberry stays put. Nor does heather grow well when the groundwater level is too high, at which time cross-leaved heath takes over.
See also
Info
Copyright Ecomare
