Erica australis L.
E. aragonensis Willk.
Eng.: Spanish heath. Spa.: Brezo rubio, brezo colorado. Fre.: Bruyère.
Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite, up to 1.8 m in height, sometimes taller, very ramose, upright. Branches with reddish-brown bark. Branchlets greenish or reddish, ± whitish hairs. Leaves (2.5-8 × 0.4-0.8 mm) in whorls of 4, shortly petiolated, linear-lanceolate, rigid, with obtuse tip; somewhat villous when young, then glabrous or glabrescent. Margin highly revolute, generally completely hiding the underside; deep green on the upper side and greenish-whitish on the underside. Inflorescences in terminal cymes, umbelliform, with 2-8 flowers, all directed towards the same side. Flowers with involucre of basal bracteoles. Pedicel shorter than the corolla, villous. Sepals from ovate to lanceolate (2-4 mm), reddish, villous or glabrescent. Corolla pink (5-10 mm), subcylindrical, usually slightly curved and slightly or not tapered at the top, with usually recurved lobes. Anthers included, with 2 toothed or laciniate appendages. Fruit a subglobose capsule, 2.5-3 mm, villous on the top and dehiscing in 4 valves. Seeds very small (0.6-1 mm), ellipsoid, yellowish-brown, finely striated surface.
Flowering:
January to May.
Fruiting:
March to August.
Habitat:
Calcifuge species, grows on ± humid, deep or rocky soils, from sea level to nearly 1,100 m. From subhumid to hyperhumid bioclimate, with mild winters, on thermomediterranean to lower supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Ibero-Maghrebi endemism. In North Africa it is found only in forests (of Quercus suber, Q. canariensis and Q. pyrenaica), thickets and heathlands of the central-western Rif (Morocco), where it becomes locally very common.
Conservation status:
Common and widespread species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.