Photographs: Ballingeary, Co. Cork

Cross-leaved Heath Erica tetralix Fraoch naoscaí Family: Ericaceae Flowering time: June-August. Evergreen shrub. Native. Waxy pink flowers in terminal heads with woolly hairs on the lower side of the sepals. Downy ovary. Whorls of 4 narrow grey-green evergreen leaves with rolled back margins. It has erect twiggy branches and a straggly growth habit. Height: 20-60cm Grows on acidic moors, bogs, heaths. Similar: Hybridises with Mackay's Heath, E. mackayana. Only found on blanket bog in Donegal and Connemara.

Cross-leaved Heath, Erica tetralix, Fraoch naoscaí