Photographs © Charles Nelson

Mackay's Heath Erica mackaiana Fraoch mhic aoidh Family: Ericaceae Flowering August - September. Evergreen sub-shrub. Native Very similsr to Cross-leaved Heath but with deeper pink flowers, the reddish sepals with gland-tipped bristles. Branching is denser and the leaf edges are only slightly rolled under, showing the white underside. Part of Ireland's Lusitanian Flora. Very rare, only found in a few sites near the south-west, west and north-west Irish coasts on wet, rocky heathland and blanket bog Hybridises with Cross-leaved Heath, Erica tetralix and the sterile hybrid Erica x stuartii is found at all sites where Mackay's Heath is present.

Mackay's Heath, Erica mackaiana, Fraoch mhic aoidh