Heather - Calluna vulgaris
Alternative names
Ling
Description
Short to medium carpeting plant to 80 cm. Leaves opposite, scale like and congested. Flowers pale purple to pinkish lilac, 3 to 4 mm in slender racemes.
Identification difficulty

Habitat
Moors, open woodland, bogs and banks on acid soils.
When to see it
July to September.
Life History
Perennial subshrub.
UK Status
Widespread and fairly common though sometimes local in Britain.
VC55 Status
Very local in Leicestershire and Rutland with most Leicestershire records coming from the Charnwood Forest area. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 37 of the 617 tetrads.
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
Enter a town or village to see local records
MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015