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THE HEATHER SOCIETY

Registered charity No 261407

Affiliated societies
Nederlandse Heidevereniging ‘Ericultura’
Gesellschaft der Heidefreunde
North American Heather Society

President
Mr D. J. Small
Vice-Presidents
Mr A. Hall Mrs A. Knight Mrs P. B. Lee
Mr D. Somer Mr J. Schréder

COUNCIL 2004-2005

Chairman

Mr A. J. Stow
Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer
Mrs J. Julian’ Mr P. L. Joyner
Mr R. Canovan Mr A. R. Collins
Mr D. Edge Mrs D. Everett
Mrs D. H. Jones JP Mrs S. Kay
Mr D. E: Millis Dr R. Nichols
Dr B. E. Roberts Mr B. Sellers

© The authors & The Heather Society

The Heather Society and the editors take no responsibility for the views expressed by
authors in papers and notes published in Heathers (Yearbook of The Heather Society).

FRONT COVER: Orange-breasted Sunbird on Erica baueri © Peter Steyn (see pp 27-30).

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Editor
Dr E. Charles Nelson

Assistant Editor
B. Sellers
ISSN 0440-5757

The Heather Society
c/o Denbeigh, All Saints Road, Creeting St Mary, IPSWICH, Suffolk, IP6 8P]

Erica junonia vat. junonia from a new locality in the Cold Bokkeveld photographed by Ted Oliver in
mid-November 2004. (enlarged c. x2)

Heathers 2: 1-12 (2005). © R. Canovan
Heathers: coping with the weather and alkaline clay

RICHARD CANOVAN
10 Queensborough, Toothill, SWINDON, Wiltshire, SN5 8DU.

My first heathers were obtained mainly to give a time-saving groundcover
between the roses but were beautiful. Abnormal weather became as much a
concern as the soil after an initial test indicated that it had a pH of almost 7.5
with some variation. In one patch it was 8.0, probably due to cement debris
and concrete. This was a disappointment. Acid mulches have reduced the
pH almost to neutral in the top few centimetres.

Having established by good luck that Erica erigena and E. vagans seemed
to thrive in my intractably heavy and alkaline (Kimmeridge) clay, the
Harlow Carr Trial reports were a valuable guide to what to get next. The
results of a potting disaster (Griffiths 1981) also helped. The success of E. vagans
suggested a magnesium-rich soil confirmed recently by the spectacular
growth of E. erigena ‘Ewan Jones’ reaching over 2.5m (8ft) in six years. After
more than two decades of effort, it has become clear that the soil is far from
hopeless. For this paper, a professional soil analysis has been undertaken.

Soil and site conditions

The free lime content of my soil prevented the use of a Morgan’s analysis
so the standard ADAS Arable Analysis was carried out by the Scottish
Agricultural College. The analysis revealed a pH of 7.8, a phosphorus
deficiency and that the magnesium content was slightly lower than expected.
The quantities (mg per litre) extractable were:

Ca 9,670 Mg 127 Na 25 K 160 P18

Initial preparation involved sedge peat and moss peat mixed with the
soil when planting. This worked well for some years but more grit should
have been dug in. This imperfect preparation led to a more gluey texture
in places than originally! This lesson has been applied to later beds. Those
cut out of lawn have had the turf turned upside down and broken up in the
second spit, which has proved beneficial. Cracks get filled with compost
and grit.

Another consideration was shade. As with Karla Lortz (2004) the winter
sun does not rise high enough in the sky to reach over the properties uphill.

“C
vwscneith
©

Jan FebMar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Figure 1. Daily Central England temperature for 2003 (blue line). The black line shows the
1961-1990 normals after 11-term binomial smoothing. The red lines are the corresponding 1st
and 99th percentiles for each day of the year. (Crown copyright: reproduced from Parker et al.
(2004) with permission of the Meteorological Office.)

The weather and heathers
The 1980s saw some extraordinary weather, testing the hardiness of the
heathers. The 1990s saw even more extreme conditions. The first extreme
year, 1982, opened with floods followed by severe frost, a massive blizzard,
then intense cold and fog with record low temperatures. The previous
December, E. australis had been killed down to the snow. However in
mid-January there was more widespread damage where plants had the
snow removed by drifting as temperatures fell to between —-14°C and —18°C
nearby: E. xveitchii ‘Exeter’ died. Spring was warm and moist until the night
of 5 May which was exceptionally cold. The humid, thundery summer had
numerous torrential downpours, rather like 2004. One storm in June washed
away the mulch and soil over the young E. vagans to expose the roots to the
hot sun but they survived and still thrive.

The drought and “hosepipe ban” of 1984 was another test. February
1986 was extremely cold with little snow so many new plants, including
E. manipuliflora ‘lan Cooper’, were lost. But this was because they were still

5 |
Jan FebMar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Figure 2. Maximum Central England temperature averaged over 1989-2003 (red) against
1961-1990 (black) and its two standard error range (grey shading) and the 20th and
80th smoothed percentiles for 1961-1990 (dotted). All curves smoothed with an 11 term
binomial filter. (Crown copyright: reproduced from Parker et al. (2004) with permission of the
Meteorological Office.)

in pots or just planted. The frost penetration at least converted overturned
sods in a newly-dug bed to powder, killing the grass, so it was ready for
planting! The three years 1995 to 1997 were a period of “continental” weather
with scorching summers (although 1997 was wet) and intervening winters
bringing some severe weather, yet the plants survived with nothing more
than minor defoliation.

The greatest damage was wreaked by lesser events. A theme of the last
15 years has been a trend to warmer conditions. Hot summer weather has
become common and the first three months of the year have become much
warmer. But December and June have not shared this warming and the
autumn and April have had some notable visitations of frost and snow as
well as warmth. These trends since 1989 are vividly illustrated in Figure 1.

Severe early frost is one source of damage. It was undoubtedly a factor
in the December 1981 damage (well summarised for Harlow Carr by Albert
Julian (1983)). A sharp frost in early November 1985 caused much damage

4

to buds on E. xdarleyensis ‘Arthur Johnson’. But more damage was caused
by a short severe spell after mid-December 1999 when a heavy fall of snow
broke the stem of my large E. terminalis and stems on E. erigena ‘Ewan Jones’.
E. multiflora ‘Formentor’ was killed while another E. xveitchi ‘Exeter’ was
badly damaged. The warmth of November and the first half of December
1994 broke all records but was followed by a cold spell. At Lyneham, four
miles away, temperatures on Christmas Eve fell to -9.9°C which was two
degrees lower than in 1999. After such warmth it may have been expected
to cause great damage, especially without a protective snow-cover, but there
was no damage whatever. September had been dull and rather cold, and
October also had slightly below-normal temperatures with an air frost on 4
October, so this may have induced early dormancy in the heathers.

The worst example of damage in spring was 1989. After a cold
November with severe early frosts, the winter and March had been
exceptionally mild but April brought unseasonably cold weather. Very locally
April or November were colder than any of the intervening months which
may be unprecedented. On 25 April, after overnight rain and snow, slight
frost fatally damaged E. carnea‘Foxhollow’ and even slightly damaged ‘Pink
Spangles’ and E. erigena ‘Brightness’. It seems that this damage may have
been partly due to the foliage being encased in ice when the strong morning
sun rose and was reflected off the ice-covered drive.

The scorching summers of 1989 and 1990 caused great stress to
E. erigena ‘Golden Lady’ which has suffered burn on other occasions. But
the worst damage from drought was in 2003, also another year with extreme
temperatures as shown in Figure 1. This shows that the 99th percentile was
exceeded in mid-April, late May, July and August while the October cold
spell broke the 1st percentile (Parker, Alexander & Kennedy 2004). On
1 August 2003, the soil was moist throughout its profile after a wet July but
that was the start of an intense drought: although Swindon missed the record
high temperatures of 10 August, it was very hot. September continued the
warm, sunny weather but a short cold snap brought an abnormally early
frost on 24 September with the lowest temperatures locally in southern
England for more than 70 years. October continued sunny but with cold
drying winds and sharp frosts. E. manipuliflora ‘Corfu’ responded to the
drought by not fully opening its flowers: instead of a brief display of massed
lilac pink bloom it resembled a bud-bloomer for two months. Another
problem of this period was a coconut-shell mulch on part of one bed that
formed a mat almost impenetrable to water so that the brief heavy rains on
both 22 September and 22 October did not reach the roots of some plants

5)

which wilted and had to be removed, notably E. xwilliamsii ‘Cow-y-Jack’ and
E. erigena ‘Ewan Jones’. Early November was warm and wet but revealed
that Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Pygmaea Argentea’ had suffered burn. It is
difficult to isolate the effects of the drought, heat and frost, but the conifer
damage may have been due to October’s drying winds at a time of a severe
soil moisture deficit.

Possible explanations of damage by frost

Bannister (2001) examined frost resistance of cut shoots of seven heather
species. Unfortunately, this did not include E. carnea, but this is likely
to behave similarly to Calluna vulgaris and E. tetralix, which showed the
maximum resistance to winter frost (down to —22°C). This is supported by
the evidence from the damage to the national collection at Cherrybank, Perth,
in December 1995 and the cultivars hardy in northeast USA. The latter has
a much wider range of temperature than central southern England. But the
central England record of the last 250 years reveals 15 occasions when mean
temperature in April has been colder than the preceding March, but not in
the northeast USA (Burroughs 2002). As in 1989, it can be lower than even
the entire winter although that was a very exceptional event.

Conversely, E. erigena and E. vagans, while less winter-hardy, were less
sensitive to temperature. So there is evidence that the species with the
greatest winter hardiness exhibit sharply reduced resistance to frost after high
maximum temperatures. This may explain the damage to E. carnea and its
hybrids after early and late frosts as in November 1985 five weeks after a
heatwave brought maximum temperatures of 27°C, and in October 1997
when more tender varieties have suffered no damage. Although likely to be
a factor in the damage in April 1989, that was probably a freak combination
of events. Evidence from Sweden does not suggest this is a problem there,
although it indicates that E. vagans may be hardier than thought and its
tolerance of shade supports my experience (Johansson 1988).

Another implication is that global warming with warmer spring weather
would reduce frost resistance. Artificial warming of only three degrees
Celsius accelerated “dehardening” in Vaccinium myrtillus (Taulavuori et
alii 1997). Also, planting of heathers from more southerly latitudes under
conditions of different day-length may result in delayed development
exposing unhardened tissue to early frost. In October 1993, soft growth
on E. terminalis was killed by six successive air frosts. Frost resistance
may vary between cultivars of the same species due to differing
provenance (Bannister 1996).

6

What could grow? Successes and failures

With E. erigena ‘Irish Dusk’ flowering as early as November and ‘Superba’
through May, and E. vagans starting in late July through the autumn | already
could get bloom for most of the year. E. carnea and E. xdarleyensis cultivars
offered many promising variations. By the late 1980s other species and
hybrids became available and the hybridisation expertise of Professor John
Griffiths and Kurt Kramer opened up new frontiers. Sadly, many of the new
“reds” have not succeeded perhaps due to nurseries’ propagation methods.
E. xdarleyensis ‘Kramer’s Rote’ has flowered particularly disappointingly
not just here but on acid clay as well. Several of the red E. carnea cultivars
have not prospered.

Some early failures were unrelated to weather events. Among E. carnea,
‘Springwood White’ was found to be rather drought sensitive through
drying winds and cracked soil but coped ina moist shady spot where it became
too vigorous: ‘Eileen Porter’ was painfully slow. Among Calluna cultivars
failure was not surprising with ‘Sunset’ being an anomalous success, although
‘Beoley Gold’ and ‘Serlei’ grew splendidly in 23cms (9 ins) of soil overlying
the chalk at the former Chiseldon nursery, south of Swindon. Daboecia gave
varied performances but D. cantabrica ‘Atropurpurea’ repeatedly suffered
chlorosis and quick death: ‘David Moss’ and D. xscotica ‘William Buchanan’
did well in what was well-prepared soil until my downslope neighbour
made the bed a bog by laying a concrete foundation for a greenhouse. This
really tested them but they came through unlike D. cantabrica ‘Blueless’,
which was clearly lime-tolerant but could not stand frost when the ground
was wet. ‘Waley’s Red’ was brilliant but only in autumn. ‘Barbara Philips’
and ‘Hookstone Purple’ coped but the new ‘Cupido’ was very unhappy. It
was one battle with nature I have given up.

The growth of a weed E. tetralix, probably a seedling brought in with
another plant, encouraged me to try ‘Foxhome’. Beautiful cerise flowers were
encouraging but not in 2000. Success followed again in 2001. Sequestrene
was applied in spring but it seemed essential to catch the start of growth.
The soil water was almost certainly a factor, being planted in a wet spot as
in nature. Ironically the weed in drier soil did better indicating that a well
drained soil may be preferable.

Therefore the one bed with reasonably good drainage has to be home for
all heathers that prefer such conditions whether they dislike lime, hate it,
tolerate it or even prefer it: E. australis, E. bocquetii, E. carnea, E. xgriffithsii,
E. xkrameri, E. manipuliflora, E. xoldenbergensis, E. scoparia, E. xwilliamsii and
E. spiculifolia x bergiana ‘Edewecht Belle’ all need this rather crowded bed,
many planted as trials with no idea of their ultimate dimensions!

Figure 3. Erica carnea ‘Rosalie’ Figure 4. Erica carnea ‘Barry Sellers'

However, unlike with those gardening over limestone, E. xwilliamsii has
not been a success, despite the brilliance of one of the parents. This casts
doubt over the new E. xgarforthensis, another hybrid with E. tetralix as a
parent: ‘Tracy Wilson’ has made a splendid start but it is too early to be
certain of its lime tolerance. }

Cultivars: performance

I naturally tried the most outstanding cultivars. Some did not give of their
best but were still very good and garden-worthy. Others were less reliable,
including many of the winter-flowering “reds”. Alongside these, I tried
others for time of flowering, colour contrast or taste, and some of these lesser
names have done extremely well.

E. carnea: the flowers of ‘Myretoun Ruby’ did not have the glow I had
seen elsewhere, but that may be because it did not get lit by the winter sun
before the flowers deepened. ‘Pink Spangles’ went bare in the centre but was
still creditable. However, ‘Praecox Rubra’ was clearly unhappy, even its few
flowers seemed to get damaged by hot autumn sunshine and sharp early
frosts like October 1997, November 1993 and 2001. Although superficial,
such damage is irritating. Some of the late-flowering cultivars of E. carnea
such as ‘Rosalie’ (Figure 3) have been rewarding and this applies in general
to the newer “pinks” such as ‘Winter Rubin’. ‘Rosantha’ looks promising
although with a short season, but ‘Treasure Trove’ was weak.

Among foliage cultivars tried, ‘Ann Sparkes’ had too much bare stem.
‘Altadena’ was tried but died back with ‘Barry Sellers’ (Figure 4) being

Figure 5. Erica vagans 'Diana Hornibrook'

happiest of those with orange foliage tolerating an intractable patch of clay
and worth having more of as it flowers quite well. It is fair to say that I tried
the plugs of ‘Bell’s Extra Special’ (Wuisky) and it may have been excellent
but it was too vigorous a carpeter so had to be removed.

Erica bocquetii performed reasonably well until dug up in 1996, but has
not flowered since replanting. It does not appear garden-worthy but
preferring lime is worth further effort, its very short-lived flowers having
the delicacy of a magnolia. Cuttings have been taken to plant elsewhere as
it was wrongly located, but it has proved extremely hard to propagate.

Erica vagans cultivars performed in line with often high expectations.
‘Birch Glow’, ‘Mrs D. F. Maxwell’, ‘St Keverne’ and ‘Diana Hornibrook’
(Figure 5) thrive: indeed the only failure in this species was ‘Valerie
Proudley’, which seemed less tolerant of lime, but ‘Pyrenees Pink’ did not
flower as well as usual.

Erica erigena ‘Glauca’, ‘Superba’ and ‘W. T. Rackliff’ have been superb
shrubs, the latter despite ravaging by foxes, another hazard. Most cultivars
tried have been successful, but ‘Irish Salmon’ seemed very weak.

Erica xdarleyensis ‘Darley Dale’ and ‘George Rendall’ are among the
cultivars that did not disappoint, reliable and trouble-free.

Figure 6. Erica vagans ‘Lilacina’, lit by the evening sun, is attractive. The E. carnea cultivar laden
with buds is ‘Queen Mary’, with E manipuliflora ‘Don Richards’ behind.

Erica manipuliflora generally grows well and is drought resistant. The
success of this species in providing good bloom, ‘Korcula’ and ‘Cascades’
apart, contrasts with Arnold Stow’s experience over chalk (Stow 2004). Even
unnamed Dalmatian clones and the new golden sport ‘Toothill Mustard’
proved fully garden-worthy.

Erica umbellata also flowers well.

The tree heaths have generally not found conditions to their liking.
E. arborea has not been successful: var. alpina suffered severe chlorosis and
‘Estrella Gold’, while appearing more tolerant of lime could not cope with
the cold clay growing only 2.5cm (lin) in six years! E. terminalis and E. xveitchi
have been mentioned. The most tolerant appears to be E. australis ‘Holehird’
which is very promising given reasonable drainage.

Outperformers

But of most interest must be what cultivars seemed to outperform? Even
within a species or hybrid there was considerable variation in performance.
The preference of E. xdarleyensis ‘Jack H. Brummage’ for a rich clay soil is
well known and it was no surprise that it was a super foliage plant until a
gale in 1989 flattened my fencing allowing its bed to become an attraction

10

to dogs and a convenience. The brilliant E. erigena ‘Brian Proudley’ and
others were finished by that. A real surprise is E. scoparia: the lost ‘Lionel
Woolner’ flattened in the same gale and now ‘Madeira Gold’ are not the
most garden-worthy plants but their happiness in the adverse conditions is
surprising. Others with an indifferent reputation have impressed and good
plants excelled.

Erica carnea ‘Golden Starlet’, although “recommended”, has probably
outperformed. It is an exceptional foliage plant, even rooting into boggy clay
when put ina trench to overwinter and showing the same health and vigour!
The same may be said of ‘Lake Garda’ which I have largely removed, its pale
violet shade seeming to add to the chill of a winter day. But it is certainly
happy, not just with the soil but being in a very shady although open spot
and flowered profusely.

Erica carnea ‘Queen Mary’ (Figure 6) was mentioned by M. G. Frye’s
Nurseries as actually preferring lime. This certainly seems to be the case,
being a reliable, early and free-flowering carpeter deserving its Boskoop
recommendation (Flecken 2004). ‘Rotes Juwel’ failed in those trials but is
another free-flowering cultivar that seems remarkably happy, covered with
short but crowded spikes of brilliant beetroot even after being run over!
These two seem better than ‘Eileen Porter’, ‘Gracilis’ and ‘Jennifer Anne’ for
early colour and with the bonus of complementary colours. ‘Winterfreude’
may now be a worthy addition: | like the rich crimson flowers.

Erica xdarleyensis ‘Silberschmelze’ was truly outstanding despite a shady
spot, eventually spreading so much it had to be removed. ‘Furzey’ under-
performed in the same bed. ‘Erecta’ has been excellent in the worst possible
soil conditions and is going to be used elsewhere. ‘Aurélie Brégeon’ has
certainly proved hardy both against wet, unseasonal frost, drought and heat.
Long flowering, it has a little more blue in the colour than ‘Erecta’ but its
solid spikes of large flowers are quite effective, and it has been proved not
to mind shade given some summer sun.

Erica xoldenbergensis ‘Ammerland’ has proved to be a remarkable plant,
its massive spikes so smothered in bloom that the orange spring foliage is
hardly visible. ‘Oldenberg’ has not been tried.

One very good summer flowering cultivar that has been outstanding for
bloom and general health is E. vagans ‘Lyonesse’. Like ‘Mrs D. F. Maxwell’,
it has found a rather shady spot very much to its liking getting plenty of
summer sunshine. It has certainly done far better than ‘Cornish Cream’
although that is long flowering. ‘Lilacina’ may also have exceeded its normal
performance, and is going to be tried elsewhere being useful for early bloom.

11

Erica xgriffithsti ‘Heaven Scent’ is another of the Society’s top 100 that
may have exceeded its high standards, with beautiful foliage, even after
pruning, in addition to its prolific bloom. ‘Jacqueline’ looks promising and
is a superb colour. But they may not have inherited the drought resistance
of E. manipuliflora.

Erica manipuliflora ‘Don Richards’ smothered in pink flowers every
autumn is another plant clearly at home on clay given reasonable drainage.

Early summer is the time of least bloom but brilliant new foliage colour
on, among others, E. vagans ‘Golden Triumph’, E. carnea ‘Barry Sellers’
(Figure 4) and E. xdarleyensis ‘George Rendall’ providing some compensation to
support the late blooms of E. umbellata, its very late cultivar ‘David Small’ and
E. erigena ‘Irish Silver’. But it is not long before plants such as E. terminalis,
E. vagans ‘Diana Hornibrook’ (Figure 5) or E. xgriffithsii ‘Heaven Scent’ are
bursting into bloom, helped by early pruning as soon as safe. In late June
2004, E. terminalis overlapped with E. umbellata ‘David Small’ resulting in
year round bloom.

Some associated plants that have thrived on this soil have been
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Minima Glauca’ and ‘Minima Aurea’, Picea
pungens ‘Globosa’ despite a poor location and, not surprisingly, Thuja plicata
‘Stoneham Gold’. The latter is a magnificent slow-growing shrub. ‘Rogersii’
is being added.

Although the trials go on, and now it is E. xkrameri, E. xwilliamsii ‘David
Coombe’ and the putative hybrid E. cinerea x terminalis, it is time for some
careful design to enjoy the successes. With hot spring weather becoming
more common, the risk of blooms fading prematurely can be reduced
by planting late flowering E. carnea cultivars such as ‘March Seedling’,
‘Viking’ and ‘Wintersonne’ where there is some shade from the afternoon
sun and the early flowering clones like ‘Queen Mary’ and ‘Rotes Juwel’
in the sunny locations. When replanting, I intend bolder plantings of my
favourite cultivars.

Summary and conclusions

It is difficult to draw firm conclusions and evaluations must be partly
subjective and a matter of taste. But there is clearly considerable
variation in sensitivity to temperature between species and to some extent
cultivars. With longer, hotter summers there is a growing risk of damage from
sudden falls in temperature in autumn like that of September 2003 given the
lengthening nights. Considerable variation in lime sensitivity in Calluna, Daboecia,
Erica australis and E. scoparia and perhaps E. tetralix has been found. Some
summer-flowering hybrids also appear relatively insensitive to lime,

12

particularly those with E. spiculifolia as a parent. Calluna vulgaris ‘Sunset’,
E. spiculifolia x bergiana ‘Edewecht Belle’ and E. scoparia ‘Madeira Gold’
would be rated 1 (moderate impact on growth) or less on the scale used by
John Griffiths. Daboecia xscotica ‘William Buchanan’ appears to contradict
his experience. More research is needed on this.

The failure of many new plants in the last ten years, which appears partly
due to modern propagation methods, is compounded by confusion between
new cultivars. Therefore taking cuttings regularly is essential to keep a
supply. Examples of misnaming include E. carnea ‘Wintersonne’, sold as
“Winter Sun” but which has richer flowers and lacks the brown foliage
and appears to be ‘Viking’. E. carnea ‘Nathalie’ from several sources is quite
distinct from the plant I have of that name which has been so difficult to grow
on clay but with its deep reddish purple flowers is worth persevering with.
But there is enough evidence to demonstrate that, even on alkaline clay, it is
possible to have colour from flower practically every day of the year.

References

BANNISTER, P., 1996. The frost resistance of heaths and heathers. Yearbook of the Heather
Society: 39-42.

BANNISTER, P. & POLWART, A., 2002. The frost resistance of ericoid heath plants in the British
Isles in relation to their biogeography. Journal of biogeography 28: 589-596.

BURROUGHS, W. J., 2002. Gardening and climate change. Weather 57 (5): 151-157.

FLECKEN, J. F., 2004. Erica carnea —- a summary of the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society
trials 1999-2002. Heathers 1: 31-38.

GRIFFITHS, J., 1981. Observations of lime sensitivity in young plants of some Erica, Calluna
and Daboecia cultivars. Yearbook of the Heather Society 2 (10): 65-68.

JOHANSSON, B., 1988. Heathers in Sweden. Yearbook of the Heather Society 3 (6): 36-41.

JULIAN, T. A., 1983. Damage at Harlow Car during the Winter of 1981-2. Yearbook of the Heather
Society 3 (1): 9-12.

LORTZ, K., 2004. A woodland heather garden. Heathers 1: 1-3.

PARKER, D. E., ALEXANDER, L. V. & KENNEDY, J., 2004. Global and regional climate in
2003. Weather 59 (6): 145-152.

STOW, A. J., 2004. Forty years on. Heathers 1: 13-17.

TAULAVUORI, K., LAINE, K., TAULAVUORI, E., PALONEN, T. & SAARI, E., 1997.
Accelerated dehardening in bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L) induced by a small elevation

in air temperature. Environmental pollution 98: 91-95.

Heathers 2: 13-14 (2005). © Brita Johansson

Suggestions for a bed of heathers II:
mixed planting

BRITA JOHANSSON
Musselvagen 3, 468 34 VARGON, Sweden.

The first article in this series was published in Heathers 1: 39-41 (2004).

KEN

1 5 plants Erica carnea ‘Weisse March Seedling’
2 7 plants Erica xstuartii ‘Irish Lemon’

3 4 plants Erica carnea ‘Wintersonne’

4 7 plants Calluna vulgaris ‘Catherine’ or ‘Gaia’
5) Opp lants Erica carnea ‘Rosalinde Schorn’

6 5plants Calluna vulgaris ‘Sirsson’ or ‘Sesam’
7 7 plants Calluna vulgaris ‘Velvet Fascination’
8 5 plants Calluna vulgaris ‘Radnor Gold’

9 plants Calluna vulgaris ‘Easter-bonfire’

10 5 plants Erica tetralix ‘Helma’

14

APRIL

SEPTEMBER

This planting scheme was devised for Swedish conditions, but it should
also work in the colder parts of Britain, Ireland and North America. —

The planting plan is for an area of about 12 metres? (about 10 x 12 ft).
The stones may be replaced by dwarf and miniature conifers. You will need
about 55 plants of the cultivars listed. A few alternatives are given. For a
smaller area reduce the plantings of each cultivar by two plants.

Heathers 2: 15-16 (2005). © C. D. Rogers.
Mix and match: a search for year-round colour

COLIN ROGERS
Ebenezer Chapel, 121 Old Road, Tintwistle, GLOSSOP,

Derbyshire, SK13 1JZ.

Frustration is . .. doing everything by the book, and still getting it wrong.
My only excuse is that, in the beginning, I probably read the wrong books.
Furthermore, a cynic might detect different advice from different authors.
What none seemed to supply were the advantages and disadvantages of
planting winter- and summer-flowering heathers in the same bed, referring
to it, if at all, as a matter of personal preference. Whosoever’s fault it was,
the result has been something unsatisfactory seen from my lounge window.
Sometimes, half a bed will look dead (or, at best, dull); another might look
like an irregular chessboard, with patches of colour contrasting with a
disfiguring lifelessness. Toogood (and many others) say that dead
flowers make an attractive feature over the winter, but my visitors
disagree! Recently pruned Calluna vulgaris ‘Beoley Gold’ and ‘Peter
Sparkes’ have looked particularly moribund this year, and I still have
the spectre of what Maxwell (1927: 22) called “large, flowerless tracts”,
supposedly avoided by mixing the seasons in the same bed. Should I,
therefore, have surrendered to the inevitable and put all “winter” plants in
one bed, and “summer” in another?

My earliest enthusiasm had been for flowers “all the year round”, a benefit
advocated by most books on the subject, and indeed by being astute (putting,
for example, Erica xdarleyensis ‘Kramer’s Rote’ alongside Daboecia xscotica
‘William Buchanan’) this is quite easily achieved with only two cultivars.
But a more casual buying of “summer” and “winter” plants for the same bed
will often result in fairly colourless areas in May, June and July, just when
competition from the rest of the garden is at its height.

There are several alternative primary criteria for selection, other than time
of flowering. A. T. Johnson, for example, recommends deciding first the ultimate
height of plants, particularly in relation to the contours of the ground, within
which he suggests an arrangement by which “one will always be in bloom
when its neighbour is either over or not yet in flower” (1956: 48). Similarly,
the initial plan in Jones (1998: 23) seems to relate essentially to the height of
the plants — there is no discussion of seasonality. Chapple, on the other hand,
appears to be primarily interested in colour (1964: 62-66), and mixed the seasons
in the same bed, as Maxwell did “in roughly equal proportions” (1927: 20-21).

Some writers have offered planting schemes which may reveal their

16

attitudes and preferences. Letts (1966: 22-27) and Yates (1985: 22-25)
suggest three beds each with a basic design in which either single-season,
or mixed season, cultivars can be found. Van de Laar’s examples
(1978: 25-29) are almost all “mixed-season” in the same beds, though he is
describing whole gardens.

None of the above is leading me to that promised land as shown in
photographs of heather gardens, which seems as elusive as the permanently
blue skies portrayed in all British university prospectuses. I gazed awestruck
at some of the photos in Karla Lortz’s book (2002), for example, especially the
one on p. 18 which was reproduced in Heathers 1 (2004: 2), and tried to analyse
the basis for the beauty she had obtained even in a woodland setting.

Asa result, I’ve come round to the Lambies’ advice on the subject — that
the prime criterion for planning a heather garden should be overall colour,
combining the colour of foliage with that of flower. Admittedly, care has to
be taken to give non-green foliage the light it needs to get full advantage —
of their contrasts, and to choose cultivars you know to be on sale within
travelling distance from home! I also learned from sad experience to buy
all cultivars for a new bed from the same source, one half of a bed of
Erica cinerea ‘Cindy’ being a distinctly different purple from the other half!
Only by looking back does this now seem the obvious solution, yet many
of the published plans do not apply it. Letts (1966: 26) for example, has
only one yellow-foliage cultivar among his six dark- to mid-green; the
Proudleys (1974: 46) have the gold/red foliage of Calluna ‘Robert Chapman’
among seven mid- to dark-green; and van de Laar (1978: 26) has one bright
green among seven dark green.

So I now believe that the “summer” /“winter” debate is of secondary
importance, perhaps almost irrelevant for most gardens, and that any dead
or dull patches are the result of my own inadequate design. I might not be
able to organise blue skies, even in Tintwistle, but I’m determined that my
heather garden will be much more colourful in future.

References

CHAPPLE, F. J., 1964. The heather garden. Second edition., London; Collingridge.

JOHNSON, A. T., 1956. Hardy heaths. Revised edition. London, Blandford.

JONES, D., 1998. Conifers and heathers. Oxford, Aura.

LAMBIE, D. & LAMBIE, B., not dated. Heathers: a guide to designing a heather garden. Speyside,
D. & B. Lambie.

LETTS, J. F., 1966. Handbook of hardy heaths and heathers. Ipswich, John F. Letts.

LORTZ, K., 2002. Heaths and heathers: color for all seasons. Shelton (Washington), K. Lortz.

MAXWELL, D. E,, 1927. The low road. London, Sweet & Maxwell.

PROUDLEY, B. & PROUDLEY, V., 1974. Heathers in colour. Poole, Blandford.

TOOGOOD, A., 1986. Gardening with conifers and heathers. Greenford, Aura.

TOOGOOD, A., 1992. Heathers and heaths. London, HarperCollins.

VAN DE LAAR, H., 1978. The heather garden. London, Collins.

YATES, G., 1985. Gardener’s book of heathers. London, Warne.

17

Heathers 2: 17-18 (2005). © J. Schréder.

The explosion of bud-flowerers

JURGEN SCHRODER
Gesellschaft der Heidefreunde, Liitjenmoor 66, 22850 NORDERSTEDT, Germany.

Some years ago one was inclined to say: “the bud-flowerers are on the
advance”. Now it seems that we are experiencing an “explosion”. In the
1980s only a few bud-flowering Calluna cultivars, each one having been
collected in the wild, were known: ‘David Eason’ (introduced 1935),
‘Dunwood’ (before 1977) and ‘Underwoodii’ (1936) from Great Britain;
‘Adrie’ (introduced 1974), ‘Ginkel’s Glorie’ (before 1972), ‘Marilyn’ (before
1972), ‘Marleen’ (before 1972) and ‘Visser’s Fancy’ (introduced
1972) from the Netherlands. The best-known of these, and still
general in the trade, is ‘Marleen’. In the past ten years a lot of new
bud-flowering heathers have been raised in Germany, and breeders
now compete with each other to bring more and more cultivars into
commercial production, often with the protection of plant breeders’ rights.

During the last 20 years marketing has also changed: formerly small
nurseries which propagated a limited number of plants of a large number of
cultivars sold plants directly to private buyers; today, very large numbers of
only a few cultivars are sold at auctions and afterwards garden centres and
supermarkets sell these on to private buyers. Correspondingly, nurseries
have changed their propagation schemes to producing very large numbers of
only a few cultivars. It is almost an industrial process, and every propagator
looks for gaps in the market.

In 2003 about 80 million Calluna plants were propagated in Germany
— about 65 million of these were bud-flowerers — and most were destined
for an entirely new market. No longer are the owners of heather gardens
the main target group: quite the reverse, for those people now represent
the smallest group, buying only about 5% of the production. The new
customers are the people who wish to adorn their balconies and terraces in
late autumn and early winter with bowls and troughs of flowering plants, and
also those who will place heathers as winter decoration on their family graves.
The latter bought about 25% of the bud-flowerers in 2003.

18

Figure 1. Left to right Calluna vulgaris 'Aphrodite'; ‘Marlies’; ‘Sandy’; 'Theresa’ and ‘Larissa’.

The propagating nurseries put their potted heathers on to the market
from September until November at intervals of about a fortnight, so that
bud colour lasts from the time of sale until December/January. In this
connection, the survival of the plants through the winter is not the aim. On
the contrary, the vast majority of these heathers end up in the garbage box,
because the sellers hope for lucrative new sales next year.

The result of the flood of new bud-flowering Calluna cultivars is that
many of them are indistinguishable: differences often exist only in the
imagination of the producers! For example, ‘Marlies’, a sport on ‘Marleen’,
one of the clones not protected by plant breeders’ rights, has given rise to
numerous progeny including ‘Anka’, ‘Bella Rosa’, ‘Bonita’, ‘Cheyenne’,
‘Christin’, ‘Feuerzauber’, ‘Heidegltihen’, ‘Manuel’ and ‘Sphinx’. It would
be a wonder if all its “children” are discernably different.

At the moment about 80 bud-flowering cultivars, with and without
breeders’ rights, have been named, and at least that number again are on
trial at the Bundessortenamt in Hannover.

Heathers 2: 19-22 (2005). © E. C. Nelson

Cultivar names for two remarkable heathers
from Kurt Kramer, Edewecht, Germany*

E. CHARLES NELSON ee
International Cultivar Registrar, The Heather Society, c/o Tippiliwitchet Cottage,
Hall Road, Outwell, Wisbech, PE14 8PE, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.

Among the many novel heathers produced by Kurt Kramer were three
seedlings raised from Erica spiculifolia (Balkan heath; formerly Bruckenthalia
spiculifolia) that had been artificially fertilized during the Spring of 1987 with
pollen from the African (Cape) species E. bergiana (K. Kramer, pers. comm.,
23 March 2004).

Erica bergiana is a distinctive heath, notable for its urn-shaped flowers (in
clusters of four) with reflexed sepals, and hirsute leaves and stems; these
characters are clearly demonstrated in the photograph in D. Schumann &
G. Kirsten, Ericas of South Africa (1992: 143). E. spiculifolia is also distinctive,
unlike any of the other northern hemisphere species. It has tiny, bell-shaped
flowers clustered in a leafless, terminal inflorescence (raceme), and leaves
that are hairless (apart from some microscopic spicules at the tips).

Superficially Kramer’s seedlings resemble E. spiculifolia although they
are much more vigorous. They display no morphological evidence that
E. bergiana was the pollen parent, so chromosome counts are essential to
confirm beyond doubt that they are hybrids (E. spiculifolia has 2n=36 (see
McClintock 1979); there is no record of a count for E. bergiana).

In 1992, cuttings of this new heather were donated by Kurt Kramer to
the late David McClintock, and these were successfully propagated by
David Small (Denbeigh Heathers) (the hybrid is noted in Bulletin of The
Heather Society 5 (2): 4 (Summer 1994)). Subsequently Denbeigh Heathers
provided further cuttings and young rooted plants to heather enthusiasts
in various countries; for example, cuttings were made available to members
of The Heather Society at the annual conference held at Penrith in 1997
(see Yearbook of The Heather Society 1998: 63). While neither Kurt Kramer
Heideztichtung nor Denbeigh Heathers put this plant onthe market, as far asIcan
ascertain, ithas now been widely dispersed. During July and August 2004, Isaw
mature plants in Ireland and western USA and I am aware of other examples
in cultivation in England and France.

This paper was originally published in German (translated by Jiirgen Schroder) in Der Heidegarten 56: 52 2-57
(December 2004).

20

Careful examination of these plants indicates that two clones are in
cultivation. With Kurt Kramer’s consent, I have published names for
these (Der Heidegarten 56: 52-57 (2004)), and the chosen names have been
registered with The Heather Society (see Heathers 2: 70 this issue). This should
assist in rectifying a serious confusion in nomenclature. In the USA, I saw
plants erroneously labelled “Erica xkrameri Unnamed Clone”; E. xkrameri
is the name for another of Kramer’s artificial hybrid, between E. spiculifolia
and the European species E. carnea, and it is definitely not the name for the
plants discussed here.

The clone in circulation in the western USA and Canada is
identical with that grown by Susie Kay (obtained at Penrith in 1997) in
western Ireland (see Yearbook of The Heather Society 2003: 18, Figure 2); this is
distinguished (see below) by virtually hairless flower stalks (pedicels) and white
(colourless) flowers which appear pink due to the colour of the immature
anthers — ‘Edewecht Blush’ is the registered name for this clone.

A second clone is cultivated by Allen Hall (Leicestershire, England);
this is easily distinguished by its pubescent pedicels and pink flowers — the
cultivar name ‘Edewecht Belle’ is registered for this plant. It is most probable
that these two clones represent progeny from two of the three seedlings.

The cultivar names are derived from Edewecht, the name of the town
in northern Germany where Kurt Kramer lives and where he raised these
seedlings. Blush refers to the tendency of the flowers, especially in bud,
to have a pink tinge, while Belle is an English noun usually applied to
handsome (beautiful) women (and there is an underlying pun, an allusion
to the bell-shaped flowers).

My observations in Ireland and North America suggest that ‘Edewecht
Blush’ flowers best when grown in the open; shading reduces the quantity
of blossom. It can be in bloom for many months, beginning as early as April
and continuing into winter. Pruning delays the onset of the flowering season,
because the immature inflorescences are removed. In the mildest areas, where
plants are not affected by frost, it may bear flowers for twelve months.

‘Edewecht Belle’ is apparently much less common in cultivation, and I
have not seen an example in gardens, although I have examined specimens
provided by Allen Hall. Mr Hall has informed me that his plant reaches peak
blooming in mid-June.

Both clones have malformed stamens; the malformation is not consistent
from flower to flower. The filaments are usually broadened and fused, and
the anthers are degenerate. Similar malformations have been reported in
E. mackaiana (see Yearbook of The Heather Society 1995: 33-40); the clone ‘Maura’
demonstrates the characteristic.

21
Key to cultivars

Flowers colourless but appearing pink (“blushing”) when young due to colour of immature
stamens inside; flower-stalks usually entirely without hairs............. ‘Edewecht Blush’

Flowers pink; flower-stalks covered with very short hairs, some of which have glands at the tips
Gaisilenwitunancd=lens)iic. ents elas ea a Gas. oe. a ee ‘Edewecht Belle’

‘Edewecht Blush’

This clone is in cultivation in Ireland (Susie Kay), Great Britain and western USA; the
description was prepared from specimens provided by S. Kay.

Bushy, vigorous shrub, to 0.5m tall. Shoots densely puberulous. Foliage bright green. Leaves
scattered, almost spirally arranged or in pairs or in “disarticulated” whorls of 3 or 4; linear,
with parallel sides, to 6.5mm long, 0.5mm wide; sulcate; with a few, scattered microscopic
hairs on the margins; apex pointed, with spicules (microscopic hairs). Flowers in contracted,
terminal racemes, 8—14(—20) per cluster, central peduncle to c. 20mm. Pedicels straight or curving,
usually slightly bent towards apex so that the flowers are held at an angle, 3-5mm long, tinged
red, hairless (or with a very few, scattered, minute hairs), with 1 bract at base (leaf-like, <3mm
long, <0.4mm wide), or occasionally with the bract 4 way from base; very rarely with 1 or 2
proximate bracteoles. Calyx cup-shaped, clasping base of corolla, hairless, c. 1.25mm long,
4-lobed; lobes c. 0.75mm long, pale green with colourless, fringed margins, fused irregularly
for up to 0.5mm (but sometimes one sulcus extending almost to base). Corolla bell-shaped
(campanulate) or broad funnel-shaped, white (colourless) but “blushing” pink when young
(due to colour of the immature stamens visible
inside), hairless, c. 3.5mm long, c. 1.25mm in
diameter-in lower part, costricted in
middle, to c. 1.8mm diameter towards apex, 4-lobed;
lobes erect, rounded, c. Imm wide, c. 0.8mm long
(4 length of tube); buds can be pink. Stamens
8, not manifest (included), with very broad,
irregularly fused, colourless filaments which coallesce
to form a “pseudocorolla”, c. 0.7mm long; anthers
degenerate, bright red when young, turning
golden brown, oval in lateral view, papillose, often
remaining fused in a collar, without awns,
c. 0.45mm long; pore oval, lateral towards apex,
c. 0.1mm long; pollen observed. Ovary indistinctly
4-celled (4-locular), glabrous, inversely pear-shaped
(narrow (stipitate) at base, expanding towards
top) with style continuous with apex; style usually
prominently manifest, to c. 4.5mm long (but
sometimes malformed, and then very much
shorter), straight, slightly expanded towards apex,
and at base broadening and merging with the ovary;
eas stigma simple, truncate, with 4 dark-red ovoid
Fig. 1. Inflorescence of ‘Edewecht Blush’: carpels (see H.A. Baker & E.G.H. Oliver (1967) Ericas
enlarged (© David Plumridge). of southern Africa: xlvi, fig. 11). Ovules numerous.

pe
‘Edewecht Belle’

This clone is in cultivation in Great Britain (Allen Hall) and probably in France; the description
was prepared from specimens provided by A. Hall.

Like ‘Edewecht Blush’, but distinguished most easily by the dark red pedicels being
noticeably pubescent with minute, straight hairs (without glands) mixed with shorter,
gland-tipped hairs. Bushy, vigorous shrub; when not pruned to 0.5m tall. Corolla pink (H9),
campanulate (bell-shaped) to conical so broadening gradually towards lobes (not constricted
in middle), c. 4.5mm long. Stamens variously malformed, not manifest (included); some are
simple, petaloid staminodes; others have broadened filaments; some filaments and staminodes
may be fused, and in some flowers they may fuse entirely into an inner “pseudocorolla”. Ovary
8-celled, not distinctly stipitate, but broadly obovoid to barrel-shaped with emarginate apex
(so style base is recessed); style to 3.7mm long, only slightly broader at base. Leaves with hairs
along the margins and on the under-rolled sides; terminal hair usually with gland at tip.

Figure 2. Photograph by Kurt Kramer (reproduced by courtesy ©); note the shape of the
individual florets and the appearance of the “pseudocorolla” at the mouth of the florets.

Author’s footnote (not included in Der Heidegarten)

The photograph (Figure 2) of the flowers of one of the original seedlings,
taken c. 1990 by Kurt Kramer, very clearly shows “double” flowers.
In these the malformed stamens are obvious at mouth of the corolla,
appearing as an inner cluster of closely-packed “petals”; thus the internal
“pseudocorolla” is as long as, ora little longer than, the corolla, not shorter as in
‘Edewecht Blush’ and ‘Edewecht Belle’. None of the flowers I have examined
resembled this state, and so I conclude that the third seedling was distinct too. I
would welcome any information that could lead to its rediscovery and propagation.

Heathers 2: 23—26 (2005). © R. B. Stewart & C. W. N. Anderson.

Erica andevalensis, a unique “copper flower”
from Spain

ROBERT B. STEWART & CHRISTOPHER W. N. ANDERSON
Soil and Earth Sciences, Institute of Natural Resources,
Massey University, PALMERSTON NORTH, New Zealand.

Professor Robert Brooks (1926-2001) was a leading figure in the international
fields of geochemistry and biogeochemistry throughout much of the second
half of the twentieth century. His work on the ecology, distribution and
the potential uses for metal-accumulating plants gave him great notoriety
during the final years of his academic career.

In 1977 Robert and colleagues published a paper in the Journal of
geochemical exploration describing how areas of nickel-rich rock around
the world could be identified by analysing small pieces of plant material,
obtained from the world’s herbaria, that had originally been collected from
their respective areas of mineralisation. Robert realised that some plant
species had unexpectedly high concentrations of nickel, and in a fit of
imagination invented the term hyperaccumulator to describe this abnormally
high accumulation of metal. Little did he know of the interest this discovery
would make in the future.

_Robert’s research during the 1990s saw development of a practical
use of the hyperaccumulator plants he identified during his frequent
expeditions around the globe — the concept of phytoextraction. This is a
technique whereby certain plants are grown over a contaminated site or
low-grade ore body, and used to clean up the site (phytoremediation) or to
grow an economic crop of metal (phytomining or phyto-reclamation). Robert's
research into gold accumulation in plants in particular captured global
attention. Academic and industry groups around the world continue to
closely follow the work he pioneered. Many regard his last book, Plants that
hyperaccumulate heavy metals, as the benchmark to describe the subject area
to new readers. His involvement with a mining company in South Africa
during 1995 saw the first ever, working example of a phytoremediation
phytomining operation through to fruition.

One of the plants Robert identified as endemic to areas of copper
mineralization was a heather from Spain, Erica andevalensis. It sparked his
curiosity as to whether it too was a hyperaccumulator, and so we became
involved in an investigation to check this out.

24

Erica andevalensis was first described by Cabezudo and Rivera in 1980.
E. andevalensis is an edaphic-endemic of the Andévalo, a 3,500 sq. km
area within Huelva Province, southwestern Spain, where it is an excellent
geobotanical indicator of copper. The region has a history of metal
mining going back to Roman times when it was a source of copper, silver
and gold extracted from pyrite. As a result of these mining activities the
local environment has been severely affected by both metal contamination
and acidity. Some soils in the mining areas have a pH as low as 3 and have
high concentrations of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe). Stream waters
can be dark red from dissolved Fe at the low pHs present and it is in wet,
humus-rich, highly metal-contaminated areas along the banks of these
streams that E. andevalensis naturally occurs.

Since E. andevalensis occurs only on older, weathered and highly toxic spoil
heaps and highly contaminated soils it cannot be indigenous but rather has
adapted to life on contaminated sites. Copper levels in some of these soils
range from about 20-3,500 ppm. It will only colonise these heaps after pyrite
oxidation has lowered the pH to a point where the toxic conditions exclude
other species. Another heather, Calluna vulgaris, grows on contaminated soils
around the abandoned Parys Mountain copper mine on Anglesey, North
Wales, but, although Calluna, and other Erica species, grow in the Huelva
area, none is found with E. andevalensis on the most toxic spots.

Our interest in E. andevalensis was to determine if it were a true
hyperaccumulator plant for copper. If it were it would join an elite group
of copper hyperaccumulating plants previously only described from the
Democratic Republic of Congo (Haumaniastrum katangense) and Hubei
Province in China (Elsholtzia haichowensis). Our experimental results showed
that E. andevalensis was in fact not a hyperaccumulator but, intriguingly,
exhibited one of the highest tolerances to Cu of any known plant. Cu levels
in plants from natural populations were <50¢g g"!, well below the 1,000g ¢"
threshold for hyperaccumulation. In the experiments we carried out, even
with the addition of EDTA to enhance the solubility and uptake of Cu, the
concentration in the plant was <500g ¢". A further observation was that the
correlation between total Cu in the soil and that in the plant was not as good
as expected. The correlation was significantly improved by determining the
plant-available Cu, which made the data from natural and artificial substrates
consistent. This outcome showed that the organic matter present in the soil
has bound the Cu tightly and rendered it unavailable for plant uptake,
explaining in part why E. andevalensis is able to survive in the organic-rich,
high total Cu soils of the Andévalo.

25

Figure 1. The valley of Rio Odiel is one of the principal natural habitats of Erica andevalensis;
the dark shrubberies on both sides of the river on the valley floor are dense stands of the heather
(photographed during the expedition by David McClintock, David Small and Charles Nelson
in 1982; see Nelson et alii 1985) (E. C. Nelson).

26

Erica andevalensis is therefore an
excluder plant; it tolerates high metal
levels by excluding the metal from
its tissues. Its Cu uptake follows the
typical pattern of metal-excluder
plants with restricted uptake until
the threshold of tolerance is
exceeded. At this point, there
is rapid, exponential growth of
uptake until the plant dies.

Thus Erica andevalensis is an
excellent indicator of copper
mineralization, having adapted to
a very specific and highly toxic
environment, and is so specialised
that it cannot survive in ordinary

sites. Although not a hyper-
ee) Bees oo a ae accumulator, E. andevalensis does
Figure 2. Erica andevalensis shrubs in the Rio belong to the unique group of
Odiel valley; note the dark red colour of the plants, “copper flowers”, that have
water which is due to contamination with iron g special relationship to copper
(E. C. Nelson). : ; ;

mineralization.

Sources

ANSENSL, A., BENNETT, F., BROOKS, R. R., ROBINSON, B. & STEWART, R., 1999. Copper
uptake studies on Erica andevalensis, a metal tolerant plant from southwestern Spain.
Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 30: 1615-1624.

BROOKS, R. R., LEE, J., REEVES, R. D. & JAFFRE, T., 1977. Detection of nickeliferous rocks
by analysis of herbarium specimens of accumulator plants. Journal of geochemical exploration
7: 49-57.

BROOKS, R. R. & MAILASSE, F., 1985. The heavy metal tolerant flora of southcentral Africa.
Balkema, Rotterdam.

BROOKS, R. R., 1977. Copper and cobalt uptake by Haumaniastrum species. PI. soil 48:
541-545.

BROOKS, R. R., BAKER, A. J. M & MAILASSE, F., 1992. Copper flowers. Nat. geogr. res.
explor. 8: 338-351.

CABEZUDO, R. & RIVERA, J., 1980. Notas taxonomicas y corologicas sobre la flora de Andalucia
Occidental: Erica andevalensis Cabezudo and Rivera sp. nov. Lagascalia 9: 223-226.

NELSON, E. C., McCLINTOCK, D. C., & SMALL, D. J., 1985. The natural habitat of Erica
andevalensis in south-western Spain. Kew magazine 2: 324-330.

SE, S-T. & SJUJ, B-L., 1953. Elsholtzia haichowensis Sun - a plant that can reveal the presence
of copper-bearing strata. Dichzi Sjuozheo 32: 360-368.

Heathers 2: 27-30 (2005). © P. Steyn.

Focus on sunbirds: the art of sunbird photography ge |

PETER STEYN
P. O. Box 54, NEWLANDS, 7725 South Africa. (peregrine@mweb.co.za)

There are 21 species of sunbird in southern Africa and they occur in a wide
variety of habitats. My favourite is the Orange-breasted Sunbird, Nectarinia
violacea (front cover and p. 28), which I first photographed at Kirstenbosch
as a schoolboy in 1952. I still have this nostalgic black-and-white picture of
a female at her nest feeding chicks, but since then I have lost track of the
number of times I have photographed this species which I consider — with
my bias freely admitted — the most beautiful of all our sunbirds.

The specific name of this exquisite sunbird refers to a small band of violet
on the upper breast which is very difficult to portray in a photograph. Like
hummingbirds, to which sunbirds are not in any way related, the colours
are the result of the refraction of light on the iridescent feathers and are
constantly changing —- in deep shade the glossy green on the head of an
Orange-breasted Sunbird appears almost black.

How then does the photographer capture the range of variable iridescent
colours on a sunbird? The answer is to supplement sunlight by the use of
flash, sometimes even using two flash-heads attached to a powerful pack
that can give multiple exposures in quick succession. However, even a
small flash attached to a camera will enhance any sunbird picture. As a rule
the power output of the flash is balanced to the normal daylight exposure
selected, a technique known as fill-in flash. The Orange-breasted Sunbird
illustrated here (Figure 1, p. 28) used this method to capture not only the
green on the head but also the elusive violet on the throat. All the sunbird
pictures accompanying this article used flash to ensure that the iridescent
plumage was correctly portrayed.

Photographing sunbirds in flight requires a lot of preparation and
powerful electronic flash equipment to freeze the extremely rapid wing
beats. The Lesser Double-collared Sunbird, Nectarinia chalybea, depicted
here (Figure 2, p.29) was taken after many months and numerous failures.
In order to achieve a very high speed, the flash-heads needed to be placed
close to the Erica which was arranged in such a way that the sunbird was
unable to alight to probe the flowers.

Figure 1. An Orange-breasted Sunbird feeding on Erica baueri with the elusive violet on its
throat revealed by the use of fill-in flash. © P. Steyn.

29

Figure 2. A Lesser Double-collared Sunbird hovers beneath Erica versicolor flowers are in
such a way that it could not alight to feed. © P. Steyn.

Early attempts failed as there was too much ambient light with the result
that the wings were blurred because the daylight was also recording an
exposure, an effect known as ghosting. The problem was eventually solved
by photographing in very dull light once the sun was below the horizon so
that only the high-speed flash was effective.

Another useful tip for photographers is to use a telephoto lens, and a focal
length of 400 mm is ideal. The reason for this choice is that from a normal
working distance of about two metres any distracting background is thrown
out of focus and the bird itself is etched in sharp contrast.

Finally, how does one ensure that the sunbird will perch where one wants
it to? The solution is to condition the birds to visit an Erica or similar plant
with long tubular flowers that have been filled with glucose water (Figure
3). A hypodermic syringe with a blunted needle (so as not to pierce the
flowers) is used to inject the solution and the viscosity of the fluid ensures
that it remains in place.

My fellow photographer Nico Myburgh is an expert on attracting sunbirds
and some have become virtual glucose addicts. In one remarkable instance
an Orange-breasted Sunbird was so enthusiastic that it alighted on Nico’s
finger and tried to drink from the syringe before he could inject the flower!

30

Figure 3. This Lesser Double-collared Sunbird returned repeatedly to this cluster of Erica regia
because the flowers were filled with a glucose solution. © P. Steyn.

Although sunbirds are usually tame it is not always easy to photograph
them to best advantage and it is hoped that these few guidelines, based on
many years of experience, will enable potential sunbird photographers to
depict these colourful pollinating jewels in a new light.

Originally published in Veld & Flora 90 (2) June 2004), and reprinted here by kind permission of the Editor,
Caroline Voget, Botanical Society of South Africa. Two photographs, showing sunbirds feeding on Chasmanthe
and Aloe species, have been omitted. The scans were supplied by Rothko International, Cape Town.

Heathers 2: 31-34 (2005). ©R. Arruda

Humming and feeding on the Pacific Rim

RON ARRUDA
Curator of South African Collections, The Arboretum, University of California at Santa Cruz,
SANTA CRUZ, California, USA.

The Arboretum at UC Santa Cruz is pretty famous for birds of all kinds — it’s
on the Pacific Coast Flyway. But hummingbirds are the ones that attract the
most attention, both from serious birders and the general public, especially
children. In fact, we have an annual Hummingbird Day here during their
mating season in March, with hundreds of youngsters overrunning the
place, learning about this rambunctious corner of the natural world. And for
hummer photography, educational walks, or for just plain visual enjoyment,
there’s no place in our garden like the South African Erica (Cape heaths) beds.
For humans, the big draw is the many plants in wide-open arrangement and
the head-high flowers that make for easy bird viewing. For the birds, it’s the ©
abundance of high-quality nectar year round.

Hummingbird metabolism is about the highest in the animal kingdom,
and they use an extravagant amount of energy to keep themselves going.
Their body temperature hovers around 40°C (104°F), with heart rates close
to 1,000 beats a minute! Though they spend quite a bit of time perching,
they have to feed often. Hummers are the only birds that have (or need) a
“dormancy” phase, mainly on cold nights, when their body temperature can
fall as low as 21°C (70°F). This torpor, known as “noctivation” slows their
metabolic rate to a crawl and makes it possible for them to survive the
night without feeding, otherwise they would literally starve to death on
the roost!

Besides a wealth of sugar to burn, the other reason these birds like our
heather garden is the way we water it, with overhead oscillating sprinklers:
it’s the only bed that gets watered this way. No rain falls between May and
October here, and we give the Cape heaths plenty to drink to keep them
blooming around the year, and the birds are very appreciative. They dart in
and out of the spray and bathe in the wet vegetation — a real treat in our
long, dusty summers. Summer can also bring erratic spells of morning fog
rolling in off the bay, and we don’t irrigate then, as these conditions provide
quite a lot of moisture for the plants and the wild life.

Figures 1 and 2 (opposite). Anna’s Hummingbird feeding on Erica discolor. The flowers are
about 2.5-3cm (1-1'/ ins) long whereas the bird is around 8.5cm (3¥ins) long.

S)e)

Fm

Here, smack in the middle of the central coast of California, we only see ,
a few of the fifty or so North American species of hummingbird, and only
two are common — Anna’s and Allen’s — but these are present in great
numbers where food and nest sites afford. Hummers are all very small:
Anna’s weighs about 4 grams, a tiny bit more than a British 1p piece, and a
whole gram less than our American 5¢ coin. They’re mostly hollow bones
and feathers, and their breast muscles make up 30% of their body weight.
Anna’s is by far the more abundant species, and it hardly migrates at all in
this mild climate, where only light frosts are common in the winter. This
bird has a vivid rose-red forehead and “gorget” (the feathers on the throat
and upper chest). Allen’s is a bit smaller in the body (just over 3 grams),
with rusty under-parts rearward, and a scarlet to orange-red gorget. The
brilliant colors around the head for which hummingbirds are justly famous
are “physical” colors, like the spectrum you get when a prism breaks up a
beam of sunlight, rather than pigment colors, like say in a robin red-breast:
“jewel-like colors” may be a cliché, but absolutely describes them! It’s
staggering to remember that Aztec chiefs had magnificent cloaks made from
thousands of hummingbird pelts: the effect must have been jaw-dropping!

Of native California plants, these little birds feed particularly on species
of Penstemon and Salvia (sages), and the floral shape of many of the South
African Erica species we grow is very similar. Much favored by the hummers
are Erica baueri, E. mammosa, E. hebecalyx, E. brachialis, E. cerinthoides, E. cruenta,
E. abietina, E. curviflora, and E. discolor, all with good-size straight or curving

34

Figure 3. The cape heath garden at The Arboretum, University of California at Santa Cruz,
August 2004. (Allen Hall).

tubes and abundant nectar. Hummers also eat a fair quantity of small insects
and spiders, especially during nesting season, and some of these come up
with the nectar as they feed.

Our garden’s Australian collection, with its eucalypts and Grevillea, is
also a concentrated hummingbird area with generous winter bloom —
another instance of trans-hemisphere cooperation! These plants are also nest
sites for the birds, whereas the Erica shrubs are usually not.

Hummingbirds are only found in the Americas — the New World, so-
called — and Erica only in the Old World. This doesn’t stop the pair from
getting along famously in California, where Erica pollination is very
successful: witness our tiny forest of seedlings that spring up unbidden
on every hand, especially near Erica baueri! Due to human occupance, and
the unbridled way we garden in coastal California’s benign climate, this
place is a hybrid ecosystem, a riot of color and ad-hoc adaptation. It offers
ever-new niche opportunities, and undreamed of combinations of plants
and animals in an exuberant and complicated dance of happy, peppy,
mutual exploitation.

Heathers 2: 35-44 (2005). ©E.C. Nelson & J. V. Aubrey.

Fred Esgate (1911-2003): the last breeder of
Cape heaths in Britain

E. CHARLES NELSON! & JOHN V. AUBREY?
' Tippitiwitchet Cottage, Hall Road, Outwell, WISBECH, PE14 8PE

Figure 1. Fred Esgate (centre, with hat) with Dr Violet Gray (left) and Mr E. R. Turner (Treasurer
of The Heather Society), in Dr Violet Gray’s garden, Southcote, Hindhead, Surrey, 7 April 1973,
on the occasion of the Cape Heath Party (J. V. Aubrey).

Frederick Esgate, a true Cockney, was born on 24 November 1911 within
the “sound of Bow bells” in southwest London. He died on 30 July 2003.
Without doubt Fred Esgate was the last specialist breeder of Cape heaths,
on a commercial scale, working in Great Britain.

He did not start life as a horticulturist. When he was 15 years old, early
in 1926 Fred found employment with a Tunbridge Wells hosier and glover,
Sidney H. Bailey, “Indian & Colonial Outfits a speciality”, and remained
there for 13 months. “During his employment”, wrote Bailey, “I have always
found him to be strictly honest, painstaking, and a very willing Boy ... a

36

hard worker, he is sharp & quick at picking up any work entrusted to him.”
“Thoroughly” recommending Fred to any future employer, Bailey continued:
“He leaves at his own wish as I understand he is anxious to learn a trade.”!

It is evident that Fred soon moved into horticulture; there is a gap of
about a year and a half in our knowledge of his career, and it is possible that
during those months he obtained horticultural experience, if not training.
By March 1931 he had been working for two and a half years as assistant
propagator in R. Wallace & Co., Tunbridge Wells, under J. Marchand. The
firm specialized in hardy trees and shrubs, including many members of the
Ericaceae, especially rhododendrons. When Fred left Wallace’s employ,
Marchand wrote as complimentary a reference as Sidney Bailey had
composed four years earlier, noting that Esgate was “good at grafting
Rhododendrons, Clematis, Camellias, Conifers, etc. etc. ... he is a hard and
painstaking worker ...”.*

Esgate’s next employer was Geo. I. Adams Ltd, “Florists, nurserymen
and seedsmen, garden artists”, also of Tunbridge Wells. One of their
catalogues, which Fred Esgate kept, includes a long list of hardy heather
cultivars. He remained there for four years, and again, on leaving of his
own accord, was characterised as “very active, intelligent, painstaking, and
trustworthy ...”.> He moved to work for C. Willett, anurseryman specializing
in fruit and tomatoes, at Hayes in Middlesex. Fred received 50 shillings
(£2. 10s. 0d) a week, and Willett offered him lodgings, “with good food and
room to yourself” for 20 shillings (£1) a week.‘ In February 1938, Fred moved
to work for Ryder & Son, “Seed specialists and makers of beautiful gardens”,
St Albans, Hertfordshire, but only remained there for about three months,
leaving in late April 1938 to join Milton Hutchings Ltd.

Dear Sir,

Confirming conversation over the telephone last evening in which you and your
friend accepted employment here, the rate being for yourself £2. 10. 0, and your
friend £2. 5. 0, for a week of 53% hours, the hours being 6.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. with
the usual meal times, over time required when necessary during the Summer.

Please let me know the date you will be able to commence work.

Yours faithfully
for MILTON HUTCHINGS, LIMITED

Milton H. Hutchings?

It is not known what Fred Esgate worked at during 1938, but in 1939 he
was in charge of “20,000 Chrysanthemums grown in ten inch pots”, and
after the Second World War commenced he was given charge of several

37

acres planted with tomatoes and lettuces. There seems to have been some
bother between the nursery foreman, Mr J. Whipp, and Esgate; Fred resented
receiving “directions” from the foreman. He was formally reminded (by a
letter dated 3 January 1940°) that it was “quite impossible to make any
distinction between Tomatoes and other crops on the Nursery, and make
your Department independent of ... supervision from Mr. Whipp.” A
reference dated 5 April 1941’ suggests that Esgate had decided to leave Milton
Hutchings Ltd, but in fact he enlisted in the Home Guard, and continued
working in the nursery throughout the Second World War.

After the end of the war, Fred Esgate was given more responsibility within
Milton Hutchings’ nursery, as the firm set about establishing its reputation
as one of the major producers of ornamental pot-grown plants, especially
chrysanthemums, including Cape heaths and azaleas. “New hybrid azaleas”,
tolerant of low light levels and air-conditioning, were first propagated at
Milton Hutchings in 1970, under Fred Esgate’s “careful eye” (Mannington
1981): by March 1980 the stock of these shrubs numbered 875,000 plants,
ranging from rooted cuttings to saleable 3-year old plants. As for Cape heaths,
by the early 1980s, Milton Hutchings grew more winter-flowering Capes .
than any other British nursery (Brandham & McClintock 1985). In the same
decade “Hillingdon Heaths” were being exported to Holland and Denmark.

“In the early fifties ... Fred Esgate embarked upon a sixteen year
hybridisation programme of Cape Ericas. He was able to raise in excess of
forty new varieties, many of which have won him accolades [sic] from the
Royal Horticultural Society” (Worsfold 1981). Some of the resulting seedlings
were selected and named, and during the late 1960s these were shown at the
RHS, and a few gained awards of merit (see Appendix).

For his hybrids, Esgate used, among other plants, a nineteenth-century
hybrid named E. xhiemalis (often spelled “hyemalis”; a name of very dubious
application), which typically has pink-purple, tubular flowers with white
tips — a colour picture published in Amateur gardening on 26 November 1983
(see page 43) shows a range of these plants including one with apricot-
coloured bells (Sheppard 1983). E. gracilis was also one of the Cape heaths
Esgate worked on. He had access to some of the new introductions including
E. pageana, from which came the cultivar ‘Limelight’, and E. oatesii, one of
the parents of ‘Gaiety’. But apart from these, no detailed records of his
crossings has been traced, and we are left to guess at his techniques. It is
interesting that among Fred’s possessions were Practical plant breeding
(Lawrence 1937) and two booklets entitled Protected wild flowers of the Cape
Province (Anonymous 1953, 1956), which included colour illustrations of
some Cape heaths.

Seated (from right): Fred Esgate; Mabel Turner; Constance McLeod; Gary Fitzgerald (Milton
Hutchings Ltd); Dr Violet Gray; unknown (Dr Gray’s companion).

Standing (from right): Ron Cleevely; John Aubrey (Milton Hutchings Ltd); Anne Small; David
Small; Roy Turner; Ros Cleevely; Phil Joyner. (Reproduced by courtesy of Ron Cleevely.)

The only other evidence we have about how Fred conducted the Milton
Hutchings’ breeding programme comes from a brief article by Brandham
and McClintock (1985). They stated that “It was learnt in late 1978 that Mr.
F. Esgate, who has for long been in charge of their [Milton Hutchings Ltd]
hybridising, has been using colchicine in an attempt to get better plants.”
Colchicine, an organic compound extracted originally from the autumn
crocus (Colchicum spp), can disrupt cell division in newly fertilized ovules,
leading sometimes to a doubling of chromosome numbers, and the
production of tetraploid plants (with twice the normal number of
chromosomes). Esgate treated two cultivars, ‘Majestic’ and ‘Pink Gem’, and
obtained seedlings with larger flowers (these were referred to as “
“Grandiflora” forms ...”*) which were sent to the Jodrell Laboratory, Royal

39

Botanic Gardens, Kew, for
investigation of their chromosome
complements. Whatever these new,
larger-flowered plants were they
were shown not to be tetraploids
(Brandham & McClintock, 1985).
Fred Esgate was appointed
Joint Managing Director of Milton
Hutchings Ltd, with responsibility
for the nursery, on 31 May 1976; he
resigned from this post on 17 August
1979 but remained in charge of the
nursery and continued working for
Milton Hutchings Ltd into the early
1980s. For his services to Milton
_ Hutchings Ltd, Fred was awarded
the Royal Horticultural Society’s
: : Long Service Medal. He moved to
Figure 3. Fred Esgate (1911-2003) Iver Flowerland Production Nursery,

(By courtesy of Derek Jordan) Iver, Buckinghamshire, where he
worked into the 1990s.

Fred Esgate was never a member of The Heather Society, but he was
present on the occasion when the Society’s short-lived Cape Heath Group
visited Dr Violet Gray’s garden on 7 April 1973 (McLeod 1973).

Notes

'S. H. Bailey ms, 26 March 1927 (all the documents quoted here, unless otherwise stated, have
been made available by Mr Derek Jordan, nephew of Fred Esgate).

2J. Marchand, 13 March 1931.

> Geo. I. Adams, Ltd., typewritten letter, 8 March 1935; F. Taylor, ms., 8 March 1935.

*C, Willett to F. Esgate, 1 April 1935.

> M. H. Hutchings to F. Esgate, 14 April 1938.

° [Milton Hutchings Ltd] to F. Esgate, 3 January 1940: incomplete typewritten letter.

’ C. E. Lunn “For and on behalf of Milton Hutchings, Ltd.”, 5 April 1941: Lunn was one of
the company’s directors.

§ Brandham and McClintock (1985) did not intend that “Grandiflora” should be used as a
name, or part of aname. Unfortunately, they employed the ambiguous phrase “... “Grandiflora”
forms ...”: “The larger flowers of the “Grandiflora” forms are presumably the result of selection
of gene mutations ...”.

As the plants raised following colchicine treatment must have been seedlings, each
one should have been given a unique cultivar epithet, unless they were individually
indistinguishable; tagging the word “grandiflora”, or the phrase “grandiflora form”, on to the
names of the parent clones contravenes the International code of nomenclature of cultivated plants.

40

Acknowledgements

We are most grateful to Mrs Pamela Lee, Mr Ron Cleevely and to Mr Ernie Jordan and Mr
Derek Jordan for their assistance with this article. Derek Jordan was especially helpful, making
available copies of documents about his uncle’s career.

References

ANONYMOUS, 1953, 1956. Protected plants of the Cape Province. Cape of Good Hope:
Department of Nature Conservation.

BRANDHAM, F. & McCLINTOCK, D., 1985. The chromosome number of four hybrid
heaths. Yearbook of The Heather Society 3 (3): 55.

LAWRENCE, W. J. C., 1938. Practical plant breeding. London: George Allen & Unwin.

McLEOD, C. I., 1973. The Cape Heath Party, April 7th, 1973. Bulletin of The Heather Society
[1] (19): 5-6.

MANNINGTON, L., 1981. Christmas azaleas - looking for something different. Floral trades
journal: 36.

SHEPPARD, E. A., 1983. A bunch of Capes. Amateur gardening (26 November): 36-37.

WORSFOLD, M., 1981. Specialist Erica producer looks to the future. Floral trades journal: 33, 36.

Appendix: Cultivars of Cape heaths associated with Fred Esgate and Milton
Hutchings Ltd, extracted from International register of heather names.

‘Bow Bells’

Listed 1969 to 1978. ““Bow Bells’, as I recall,
was the nearest Fred came to naming one of
his hybrids after himself, as he was born in
S. W. Hackney” (J. Aubrey to ECN, 11 March
2004), thus he was raised within the sound of
Bow bells, and therefore a true Cockney; the
peal of bells of St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside,
London, have long been famous, to direct
travellers on the road to London town.

ref.: no printed source traced; [D. McClintock
record card].

‘Daybreak’

Introduced (as ‘Dawn’) by 1967; exhibited (as
‘Dawn’) at the RHS on 31 October 1967.

ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society
93: 25 (1968); — 94: 85 (1969).

‘Dawn’ — see ‘Daybreak’

Figure 4. ‘Daybreak’ in production in Milton
Hutchings early in 1972.

41

‘Delight’

Exhibited at the RHS on 14 March 1967: Cultural Certificate.

ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 92: 23 (1967) [name only]; Bulletin of The Heather
Society 2 (11): 4 (1977); [Yearbook of The Heather Society 2 (6): 11 [erroneously called ‘Gaiety’ ]
(1977)]; Amateur gardening 94 (23-30 December): 60 (1978).

‘Dusky Maid’

Flowers lcm long, mauve base with yellow lobes, December to February. 60cm high.
Artificial hybrid, between two unnamed seedlings; raised by Fred Esgate and introduced by
1967; shown at RHS on 31 October 1967: Award of Merit.

ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 21 (1968) [name only]; Yearbook of The Heather
Society 2 (2): 14 (1973); — 2 (11): 17, 18 (1982); — 3 (1): 15, 16 (1983); Catalogue, Denbeigh
Heather Nurseries, Creeting St Mary, 23 (not dated [1976]); Bulletin of The Heather Society 2
(16): 5 (Spring 1979).

ws .

Ai nm A

ty

ee
Oe

Figure 5. ‘Gaiety’ in production at Milton Hutchings early in 1973.
‘Gaiety’

Flowers “large deep pink, bell-like”; “even larger pinkish bells than” E. oatesii; “deep rosy
version of E. oatesii”.

Selected from E. oatesii crossed with an unnamed seedling; raised by Fred Esgate and introduced
by 1967; shown at the RHS on 14 March 1967: Award of Merit.

ref.: Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 92: 236 (1967); Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural
Society 92: 24 (1967); Bulletin of The Heather Society 1 (19): 5 (1973); — 2 (11): 4* (1977); [Yearbook
of The Heather Society 2 (6): 11 [erroneous] (1977)].

42

Figure’ 5) = GuERe being srown at Denbeigh, CEE St = Teewicht January 2005.

‘Ghislaine’

Flowers tubular to clavate, 3 x 9 mm, “deep H14 with white lobes”.

Possibly raised at Milton Hutchings Ltd, Uxbridge, Middlesex, before 1980. Rescued from a
nursery in Iver Heath, Berkshire, in 1994; introduced by Denbeigh Heathers in late 1997.

ref.: Yearbook of The Heather Society 1998: 70 [as E. xhyemalis].

‘Limelight’

Flowers pale sulphur yellow, 2.5cm long, pitcher-shaped’; tightly packed in long inflorescences;
(October)—December—February; to 0.5m tall.

Introduced by 1967; shown at the RHS on 20 November 1967 and 20-21 February 1973 (Heather
Competition, Class 5, Ist).

ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 22 (1968) [name only]; Yearbook of The Heather
Society 2 (1): 37* (1972); — 3 (6): 48-49 (1988); Bulletin of The Heather Society 1 (19): 5, 6 (Summer
1973);— 1 (20): 1-2 (Autumn 1973);— 2 (16): 5 (Spring 1979); Catalogue, Denbeigh Heather
Nurseries, Creeting St Mary, 23 (not dated [1976)]).

‘Majestic’

Large tubular deep magenta flowers, white portion of the corolla is confined to the lobes.

“E. hyemalis hybrid”; raised by Fred Esgate and introduced by 1967; shown at RHS on 31 October
1967: Award of Merit.

ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 21 (1968) [name only]; Yearbook of The Heather
Society 2 (2): 14 (1973); — 3 (3): 55 (1985) [chromosome counts]; Bulletin of The Heather Society
2 (16): 5 (Spring 1979).

43

Figure 6. 'Limelight'’ grown at Denbeigh, Creeting St Mary, Ipswich, c. 1976.

‘Pink Gem’

Introduced by 1967 (as ‘Pink Pearl’); shown (as ‘Pink Pearl’) at the RHS on 31 October 1967.
ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 21 (1968); — 94: 85 (1969) [name only];
Yearbook of The Heather Society 3 (3): 55 (1985) [chromosome counts]; [www.collinaexport.com
accessed 12 October 2003]. (Erica stock list, Ericaflora, Monbulk (Victoria, Australia), not dated
[c.2000] [name only]; Catalogue, Larkman Nurseries, (Lilydale, Victoria, Australia), 32* (July
2002) both ‘Pink Pearl’)

‘Pink Pearl’ — see ‘Pink Gem’

‘Pink Splendour’
Exhibited at the RHS on 31 October 1967; withdrawn by 1978.
ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 21 (1967) [name only].

‘Pink Superb’
At Milton Hutchings Ltd by 1969, but withdrawn or discarded by 1978.
ref.: no printed source traced; [D. McClintock record card].

‘Pink Supreme’
Exhibited at the RHS on 21 November 1967.
ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 22 (1967) [name only].

‘Redbreast’

Raised and selected by Fred Esgate and introduced by 1968; shown at the Royal Horticultural
Society on 20 February 1968.

ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 23 (1968) [name only].

44
‘Rosea’ — see ‘Rosita’

‘Rosita’
Introduced by 1967; shown (as ‘Rosea’) at the RHS on 31 October 1967.
ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 21 (1968); — 94: 85 (1969) [name only].

‘Salmon Supreme’
Raised before 1969; withdrawn by 1978.
ref.: no printed source traced; [D. McClintock record card].

‘Silver Pink’

Said to be a selection from the hybrid Erica “willmorei” x “hyemalis”; exhibited at the RHS on
14 March 1967: Cultural Certificate.

ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 92: 23 (1967) [name only].

‘Snowfall’

Foliage mid-green (RHS 143B); flowers short (5-8mm long, 0.25mm wide), tubular, white (RHS
155D). 60cm high.

Selected from a cross between E. gracilis var. nivalis and an unnamed seedling; raised in 1955
by Fred Esgate and introduced in 1965; shown at the RHS on 20 February 1968 — Award of
Merit — and 21 November 1968; and on 17-18 February 1976 (Heather Competition, Class 13,
3rd).

ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 22 (1968); Journal of the Royal Horticultural
Society 94: 318 (1969); Catalogue, Denbeigh Heather Nurseries, Creeting St Mary, 23 (not dated
[1976]); Bulletin of The Heather Society 2 (8): 3 (Summer 1976); — 2 (16): 5 (Spring 1979); Amateur
gardening 94 (23-30 December): 60 (1978); W. Martensson (editor), The homemaker’s library —
houseplants, 68 (1979); Yearbook of The Heather Society 3 (1): 16 (1983).

‘Sunburst’
Exhibited at the RHS on 21 November 1967.
ref.: Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural Society 93: 22 (1968) [name only].

‘White Spray’

Selected from a cross between E. pageana and an unnamed seedling; raised by Fred Esgate and
introduced by 1967; shown at the RHS on 14 March 1967: Preliminary Commendation.

ref.: Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 92: 236 (1967); Proceedings of the Royal Horticultural
Society 92: 24 (1967); Bulletin of The Heather Society 1(19): 5.

Heathers 2: 45-48 (2005). © J. V. Aubrey.
Milton Hutchings Ltd: a brief history

JOHN V. AUBREY
Redlands, Ellis Avenue, Chalfont Heights, GERRARDS CROSS,
Buckinghamshire, SL9 9UA.

Milton Henry Hutchings was born on 2 December 1872 (The advertiser and
gazette, 1 December 1939), and was the fourth son of James Hutchings of
Cowley, Middlesex. He established his nursery at Kingston Lane, Hillingdon,
in 1894 and within ten years had transferred it to Pield Heath Road where it
became known as Pield Heath Nurseries. This site subsequently occupied
20 acres to the east of the River Pinn and 10 acres to the west. To the north
and adjacent to this area was the already established nursery of Lowe and
Shawyer which by the mid-1930s had become Britain’s, if not Europe’s,
biggest range of greenhouses.

Mr Milton Hutchings always strived to produce high-quality produce
and was awarded several medals by the National Chrysanthemum Society

Figure 1. Cape heaths in 9cm pots at Milton Hutchings; the blocks were positioned to take
Dutch lights; autumn 1972 (J. V. Aubrey).

J
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from Milton Hutchings Ltd in the early 1980s; from Amateur gardening 26 November 1983.

47

and also an Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society on
13 January 1903, for a display of the decorative Chrysanthemum ‘Miss E. Davy’:
this was his wife’s (Edith) maiden name.

The company was registered as a limited company on 4 July 1935. The
first directors were Milton Henry Hutchings, Arthur William Hutchings
(brother), Edwin James Miles (Sales Director and father of Bernard
Miles') and Charles Edward Lunn (Company Secretary and subsequent
Managing Director).

In 1938 Hutchings engaged Mr Frederick Esgate who quickly established
himself as a successful Nursery Manager, maintaining the very high
standards set by Milton Hutchings. Regrettably the founder died from
a sudden heart-attack on 23 November 1939 (The advertiser and gazette,
1 December 1939).

Mr Esgate commenced raising Cape Erica hybrids circa 1950, and
produced thirty to forty cultivars? which were considered to have good
commercial prospects. Several were exhibited at the RHS Fortnightly
Shows in the late 1960s and received Awards of Merit, and Cultural
Commendations, from the Floral Committee C.

The company eventually had eight acres of heated greenhouses plus.
heated pits covered with Dutch and English Lights, also several acres of
irrigated standing-out ground in order to cope with the annual propagation
of 200,000 Japanese and hybrid azaleas and 500,000 Cape heaths.

The company continued under the chairmanship of Mr James H. J.
Hutchings (nephew of the founder) and with Mr Charles E. Lunn as

SPECIALISTS GROWERS OF CAPE ERICAS, HYEMALIS AND AZALEA HYBRIDS.

Milton Hutchings Limited

Tel: 0895 35511
SaGROF NOW OPEN
WHOLESALE TRADE CENTRE

9a.m—4.30p.m. Monday-Friday

NOW i FULL RANGE OF FLOWERING &
FOLIAGE, INDOOR PLANTS P

LONDON Be CERAMICS - POT COVE

A ON DISPLAY. ONLY 30 MINS. FROM CENTRAL LONDOS
I STOCKLEY
ROAD

BUYERS MOST WELCOME AT

x Pield Heath Nurseries, Pield Heath Road, Hillingdon,
Post : . vs

HOUSE Uxbridge, Middx. a

eee A subsidiary of Graham Sinclair Plants Ltd. &

Figure 3. Advertisements from The florist April 1982: 26.

Rythg

48

Managing Director. Mr John V. Aubrey was appointed as Company Secretary
in May 1965 having joined the company in May 1959. He subsequently
became Chairman following the retirement of Mr James Hutchings.

The 1973 oil crisis seriously damaged the UK horticultural glasshouse
industry and with many nurseries closing it was decided that a buyer be
found to take the company over as a going concern in order that the four
Charity Shareholders holding 60% of the equity be enabled to realise their
investment received by them as bequests.

In November 1981 Graham Sinclair Plants Ltd bought the company as a
going concern and the remaining full-time former directors who had
remained with the company after it was sold, left in 1983. The company
ceased production in 1986 and was finally dissolved on 14 October 1997.

NOTES

‘Later (1975) created Lord Miles. Bernard Miles (1907-1991) published a brief article about his
memories of Milton Hutchings Nursery: “by the age of ten I was already a champion disbudder
[of chrysanthemums] and could command a salary of 8s 4d a week during the school holidays.”
He does not mention Cape heaths. MILES, B., 1982. It was all fields, once ... The countryman
Winter 1982/3: 22-26.

* This figure includes selections that were informally named at the nursery; the informal names
were never printed or published and no record of them can now be traced. Eighteen cultivars
are recorded on The Heather Society’s database as having come from Milton Hutchings Ltd,
with one additional cultivar being in all probability from the firm (see Nelson & Aubrey 2005:
this issue pp 41-43).

Heathers 2: 49-54 (2005). © S. Siebert & S. Ramdhani

Heathers on the roof of Africa: The Bale Mountains of Ethiopia

STEFAN SIEBERT! & SyD RAMDHANI?
‘Department of Botany, University of Zululand, Private Bag X1001,
KWADLANGEZWA, 3886 South Africa.

* Department of Botany, Rhodes University, GRAHAMSTOWN, South Africa.

Like mountains on the top of mountains, the highlands of Ethiopia rise 1,500
metres (4,900ft) above a plateau that already lies at 2,500 metres (8,200ft)
above sea level and comprises 80% of the landmass of Africa above 3,000
metres (9,800ft); better known as the “roof of Africa”. The Bale Mountains
on the southern highlands are characterized by numerous spectacular
volcanic peaks, beautiful alpine lakes and unspoiled mountain streams. A
large proportion of these mountains is protected in the 2,500 sq. km (965
sq. miles) Bale Mountains National Park, some 400 km (250 miles) south of
Addis Ababa.

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/
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Me OK Mae acini EDM py Muy a *,,
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Figure 1. Ethiopia and the Bale Mountains: © Sally Adams, Technodraft.

50

The Harenna escarpment that runs from east to west divides the national
park. A high-altitude plateau lies north of the escarpment, averaging around
4,000 metres (13,100ft) in altitude. South of the escarpment the land drops
abruptly, and then slopes gradually down to an altitude of 1,500 metres
(4,900ft) at the park’s boundary.

The Sanetti plateau in the north is the most extensive afroalpine (the
distinctive flora of the uppermost parts of high mountains, see p. 52) area in
Africa, its ancient volcanic rocks dissected by many rivers and streams that
have cut deep gorges, and created spectacular waterfalls. Several massifs
rise from the plateau. Of these, Tullu Deemtu (Red Mountain) is the highest
at 4,377 metres (14,360ft) above sea level: the second highest point in Ethiopia.

The Bale Mountains lie within the tropics of the northern hemisphere
and the climate — high rainfall and mainly damp, cloudy weather - is typical
of a high-altitude, mountainous region. The year has three seasons: dry from
November to February, early-wet from March to June, and wet from July to
October. Summer days can reach maximum temperatures of 30°C (86°F),

Figure 2. A homestead surrounded by the giant tree wort (Hypericum revolutum) with resprouting
stumps of Erica arborea in the foreground. Our observations were that the tree heather is only
burnt and cut in the vicinity of homesteads. In more pristine areas there were large (3-4m)
specimens. © S. Siebert.

oil

Figure 3. Erica trimera © S.Siebert.

with minimum winter night temperatures dropping well below freezing
point. On cold, clear nights, heavy ground frosts are common.

The basalts of the Bale Mountains support a rich diversity of plant
communities. High rainfall and variation in altitude and topography result
in clear zonation of vegetation, similar to the patterns of zonation evident
on most east African mountains. Some plant genera are shared and are
common to many of these mountains (e.g. Kniphofia, Afrocarpus and Erica)
although species may differ.

Subalpine zone vegetation

Above the tree line, reaching up to 3,500 metres (9,150ft) above sea level, is
a subalpine belt of ericaceous heathland. Frequent mists support a dense
growth of lichen, mosses, flowers and grasses beneath small trees. Hypericum
revolutum (giant tree wort) with its golden yellow flowers occurs frequently
with Erica arborea (tree heather) at lower altitudes in the forest / heathland
transition. Pastoralists often burn the heather in an attempt to increase
the grass layer, resulting in stunted, resprouting trees (Figure 2).
Frequently-occurring herbaceous genera include Festuca, Hebenstretia,

oy)

Figure 4. The dense vegetation of the Erica-Alchemilla-Helichrysum heathlands reminded us of
the fynbos of South Africa. © S. Siebert.

Romulea, Swertia and Viola. At higher altitudes Alchemilla haumannii (lady’s
mantle), Erica trimera (asta; Figure 3: p. 51) and Helichrysum citrispinum
(spiny everlasting) form dense, localized stands among the tree heather in
the transition zone with the afroalpine beit.

Endemics associated with the ericaceous heathlands include Echinops
longisetus, with its conspicuous large flower heads, and Rubus erlangeri, with
its unusually elongated and pointed sepals.

Afroalpine vegetation

“Afroalpine” refers to the peculiar flora of the uppermost parts of high
mountains. On the Bale Mountains this zone starts at about 4,000 metres
(13,100ft) above sea level and is recognizable by its capping of more recent
lava flows that created spectacular rock formations. High peaks are covered
by bare rock or exposed soils, vegetated only by small but hardy herbs like
Dipsacus pinnatifidus and Helichrysum splendens, and tussock grasses such as
Pentaschistis minor and Festuca abyssinica. Plant community patterns in this
zone are determined by slope, drainage and rodent activity. Pioneer species
are common, colonizing soil that is continuously moved by giant mole-rats,

53

Figure 5. A typical high-altitude bog with giant lobelias. © S.Siebert.

and include Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress), Erophila verna (common
whitlowgrass) and Thlaspi alliaceum (garlic penny-cress), three species that
also are native in Britain and Ireland. Rocks are covered by many species of
mosses and lichens. Vegetation in flat areas below the peaks includes many
cushion-forming everlastings like Helichrysum citrispinum, H. cymosum,
H. formosissimum and H. splendidum; and typical cushion plants such as
Geranium kilimandscharicum and Polygonum afromontanum. Plants frequently
encountered along drainage lines and bogs include Alchemilla haumannt and
the tufted sedge, Carex monostachya. A peculiar thistle (Carduus sp.) and a
blue-flowered forget-me-not Myosotis keniensis occur on rock outcrops.

In the Drakensberg (South Africa), which also has a basaltic geology but
where altitude does not exceed 3,500 metres (11,500ft) above sea level, a
similar Erica-Helichrysum alpine heath occurs between 2,900 and 3,500 metres
(9,500-11,500ft): a significantly lower altitude than in the Bale Mountains.
Altitudinal effects have resulted in the East African mountains showing more
distinct intermingling of montane forest and ericaceous belts than is the
case in the Drakensberg. Like the other high altitude areas of East Africa,

54

some plants in Ethiopia have developed giant forms. Lobelia rhynchopetalum
(giant lobelia) is the most noticeable in the Bale Mountains: their silhouettes
against the horizon on the Sanetti Plateau, and their reflections in the
numerous small lakes make them unmistakable (Figure 5). Another giant
lobelia, L. gibberoa (jibrra), is a smaller, spindly species that occurs in the
southern forests below the Harenna escarpment. Unfortunately these
graceful forms are not present in southern Africa, probably because of our
lower altitudes. The Ethiopian afroalpine mountain refuge is not only
renowned for its unique plant life, but is also home to endemic mammals
such as the Simien red wolf, mountain nyala, Menilek’s bushbuck and giant
mole-rat. It is also a birder’s heaven, containing many species endemic
to Ethiopia.

This major watershed of Ethiopia and Somalia is not without threats.
In the Bale National Park pressure is placed on the natural vegetation by
overgrazing, fire for controlling woody vegetation and deforestation. The
park has not been legally gazetted and people are permitted to live with
their livestock on the sensitive Sanetti plateau and along the Harenna
escarpment. Fortunately the World-wide Fund for Nature has taken note of
this situation and has initiated a project to address responsible conservation.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr Jonathan Timberlake, Prof. Ibb Friis, Dr Alan Paton, Dr David
Goyder and Prof. Peter Linder for field identifications. SABONET, NRF and IAPT
is thanked for funding the authors’ attendance of the AETFAT Congress and
post-congress tour.

Further reading

FRIIS, I. 1986. Zonation of forest vegetation on the south slope of Bale Mountains,
south Ethiopia. Ethiopian journal of science 9: 29-44.

HEDBERG, O. 1986. The afro-alpine flora of Ethiopia. Ethiopian journal of science
9: 105-110.

HILLMAN, C. & HILLMAN, S. 1990. Bale: Highland wilderness. Ethiopian Tourism
Commission, Addis Ababa.

LINDER, P. 1996. Giants on the equator. African environment and wildlife 4: 68-75.

TADESSA, M. 1991. Some endemic plants of Ethiopia. Ethiopian Tourism Commission,
Addis Ababa.

This article is an edited and shortened version of a paper originally published in Veld & Flora 90 (2) (June 2004);
it is reprinted here by kind permission of the Editor, Caroline Voget, Botanical Society of South Africa.

Heathers 2: 55-56 (2005). © Satoshi Miwa

Cape heaths in Pacific Flora 2004

SATOSHI Miwa
64-10Yasumatsu-cho, HAMAMATSU 435, Japan.

Pacific Flora 2004 (Shizuoka International Garden and Horticulture
Exhibition) was held for 187 days beginning on 8 April 2004 in our city
of Hamamatsu in the area surrounded by Lake Hamana. It was the third
international exhibition of flowers and gardens held in Japan. Masato
Shiota, the top Cape Erica grower in Japan, and I exhibited 21 species and
cultivars (see Table 1) of Cape heaths for 18 days during the opening session
of the exhibition.

We entered three competitions — display as a whole; individual plants;
container display — and gained the Best Award for display, Honour Award for
Erica walkeri, and two Silver Awards for E. chamissonis and E. regia var. variegata.

The exhibition space, 4.5m (15ft) square, was divided into two parts by
a paved footpath. One side was filled with pot-grown Erica of full-bloom,
while the other side had a mixed planting of heaths of various shapes and
sizes mingled with some other Cape plants. The scenery on the back panel

56

Erica walker: Honour Award plant.

was Silvermine Nature Reserve, Western Cape, which I visited during The
Heather Society’s Erica quest 2003.

Small samples of each heath in flower, labelled with their names, were
set out on the front panel to assist visitors in learning the names of the Erica
in the display.

Cape heaths have been becoming popular in Japan in recent years but
they are not always well-known to the public. We hoped the visitors would
realise the beauty and the diversity of Cape heaths, and also learn the correct
name for the plants sold in flower-shops and garden centres.

Table 1. Species and cultivars of Cape displayed at Pacific Flora 2004.

E. abietina E. hirtiflora ‘African Fanfare’
E. baueri (pink and white clones) _ E. nana ‘Christmas Parade’
E. blandfordii E. patersonii ‘Ghislaine’

E. cerinthoides (dwarf clone) E. patersonii x perspicua ‘Linton’s Red’

E. chamissonis E. peziza plus two others as
E. cubica E. regia var. variegata yet not named

E. cyathiformis E. ventricosa

E. fastigiata E. versicolor

E. formosa E. walkeri

Heathers 2: 57-58 (2005).

© E. C. Nelson

Chromosome numbers in Erica — an updated checklist

E. C. NeLson! & E. G. H. OLIVER?

' The Heather Society; c/o Tippitiwitchet Cottage, Hall Road, OUTWELL, Wisbech,

Cambridgeshire PE14 8PE, UK.

Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X7,

CLAREMONT 7735, South Africa

The following checklist updates the information compiled by McClintock

in 1979 (see source 11 below).

species gametophytic

Naturally occurring species and hybrids
agglutinans

andevalensis

arachnocalyx (= Acrostemon viscidus)
arborea

australis

carnea (= E. herbacea)

ciliaris

cinerea

curvirostris

er1gena

eriocephala (= Acrostemon hirsutus)
mackaiana

multiflora

paucifolia (= Syndesmanthus paucifolius)
pilosiflora (= Acrostemon eriocephala)
sessiliflora

scoparia

scoparia [subsp. scoparia]

spiculifolia (= Bruckenthalia spiculifolia)
xstuartii (mackaiana x tetralix; = E. xpraegeri)
tetralix

umbellata

vagans

vernicosa

xeranthemifolia (= Hexastemon lanatus)

Artificial hybrids and cultivars

xhiemalis (parentage not known)

xkrameri (carnea (n=12) x spiculifolia (n=18))
‘Majestic’ **

‘Majestic’ (“Grandiflora” form) **

‘Pink Gem’ (‘Pink Pearl’) **

‘Pink Gem’ (“Grandiflora” form) **
“Willmoreana” +

1
12

De
ae

De

122

122

29

12

128
15-18°

sporophytic

24
24
24
24
24
24
24

24
24

24

24
36
24
24
24
24

24
30
24
24
24
24
24

sources

14, (15)

it

14, (15)

6, 7,8, 9; 1

x x

x

wie SN NESS

ED EDRYDRAID

WONNNN

58

*x

+ This plant’s identity is uncertain; for discussion of the misapplied name E. willmorei and
its numerous orthographic variants, see NELSON, E. C. & OLIVER, E. G. H., 2003.
Understanding Erica xwillmorei, a nineteenth-century English garden hybrid. Bothalia
33: 149-154.

SOURCES

1. APARICIO, A., 1994. Numeros cromosomaticos de plantas occidentales, 708. Anales
del Jardin Botanico de Madrid 51(2): 280.

2. BRANDHAM, F. & McCLINTOCK, D., 1985. The chromosome number of four hybrid
heaths. Yearbook of The Heather Society 3 (3): 55.

3. CALLAN, H. G., 1941. The cytology of Gaulthettya wisleyensis (Marchant) Rehder a new
mode of species formation. Annals of botany 5: 579-585.

4. DEMPSEY, R. E., GORNALL, R. J. & BAILEY, J. P., 1994. Contributions to a cytological
catalogue of the British and Irish flora, 4. Watsonia 20: 63-66.

5. DRUSKOVIC, B. & LOVKA, M., 1995. IOPB chromosome data 9. International Organization
of Plant Biosystematists newsletter 24: 15-19.

6. FRAGA VILA, M.1., 1982. Aportacion al estudio taxonomico de las especies de los generos Erica y
Calluna presentes en Galicia. Santiago de Compostela: Universidad de Santiago, Facultad Biologia.

7. FRAGA [VILA], M. I., 1983. Numeros cromosomaticos de plantas occidentales, 223-233.
Anales Jardin Botdnico Madrid 39 (2): 533-539

8. FRAGA[VILAI], M. I., 1983 [1984]. Notes on the morphology and distribution of Erica and
Calluna in Galicia, north-western Spain. Glasra 7: 11-23.

9. GONZALEZ ZAPATERO, M. A. & ELENA ROSSELLO, J. A., 1985. Contribucion al
conocimiento cariologico de los brezales del centro-occidente Espanol. Studia Botanica,
Universidad de Salamanca 4: 173-177.

10. HALL, A., 1992. Visit to Germany and Holland March 1991. Yearbook of The Heather Society
3 (10): 45-51.

11. McCLINTOCK, D., 1979. The chromosome numbers of heathers. A compilation ... .
The plantsman 1: 63-64

12. McCLINTOCK, D., 1997. Erica spiculifoliax Erica carnea= Erica xkrameri. Der Heidegarten 41: 18-20.

13. McCLINTOCK, D., 1998. Erica xkrameri: the hybrid between E. carnea and E. spiculifolia.
Yearbook of The Heather Society 1998: 26.

14. OLIVER, E. G. H., 1964. Taxonomic studies in the genus Acrostemon KI. and related genera.
Unpublished M. Sc. thesis, University of Cape Town.

15. OLIVER, E. G. H., 1991. The Ericoideae (Ericaceae) — a review. Contributions from the Bolus
Herbarium 13: 158-208.

16. NATARAJAN, G., 1988. Etude caryosystimatique de quelques dicotyledones de la Garrigue

These counts (by EGHO: see source 14 below) were taken from acetocarmine anther squashes
with one confirmation (for E. eriocephala) being done using the pollen germination method
with division in the tube (for this the pollen was germinated on cover-slips with a growing
medium and then treated with acetocarmine). For synonymy of these South African species,
see OLIVER, E. G. H., 2000. Systematics of Ericeae (Ericaceae: Ericoideae) species with
indehiscent and partially dehiscent fruits. Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium 19.

fide source 9 below.
Brandham & McClintock (1985: source 2 below) stated that “good rooted cuttings of normal
‘Majestic’ and ‘Pink Gem’ ... and of [colchicine] treated “Grandiflora” forms of both of

these were taken to the Jodrell Laboratory at Kew in the summer of 1979. Their parentage
isnot known. It proved that all four plants had the normal number of chromosomes, i.e. 2n= 24.”

Languedocienne. Naturalia monspeliensia 52: 85-123.

Heathers 2: 59-60 (2005). © B. Sellers

International heather gardens 2: 7
Cherrybank, Scotland :

BARRY SELLERS
8 Croft Road, NORBURY, London SW16 3NF.

Cherrybank is located on the outskirts of Perth. It is home to Bell’s National
Heather Collection, a seven-acre site accommodating around 50,000 plants
with over 900 cultivars of Calluna, Erica and Daboecia, the largest collection
of hardy heathers in the United Kingdom.

The Bell’s Whisky Distillery Company, whose headquarters lay adjacent,
created the garden in 1984, and the heathers were first planted in 1988.
In 2002, the garden was gifted to Scotland’s Garden Trust by Diageo plc,
the multi-national company behind the merger of Bell’s owners, United
Distillers, with International Distillers and Vintners.

On 21 August 2004, Cherrybank was the focus for delegates to the Second
International Heather Conference. Nick Dawson of Scotland’s Garden Trust
gave us an introduction to the garden. We were blessed with good weather
as we enjoyed the variety of heather beds, some full of our old favourites,
others with the more recent introductions. A number of people were spotted
making sketches, and scribbling notes about their favourite cultivars.

The German Heather Society joined us at the garden and it was another
opportunity to welcome friends. A moving moment was when Alice Knight
met Brita Johansson for the first
time; they had been corresponding
for a number of years.

The garden is broadly
fan-shaped with the beds running
across it like ripples in a pond.
There are 24 beds of various sizes;
all are somewhat irregular in
shape and this gives the garden an
informality of style. The garden
also slopes downwards from
the visitor centre, from which
extensive views across the entire
garden can be enjoyed.

In front of the visitor centre
Erica carnea ‘Bell’s Extra Special’

60

takes pride of place. This cultivar, with its whisky-coloured foliage,
was appropriately named to commemorate the association with the
adjacent distillery.

The bell heathers (E. cinerea) were very impressive, planted in large drifts.
Of particular note were ‘Joyce Burfitt’ [F3] and ‘Katinka’ [K1]. A clump of
‘Contrast’ [Q] made a spectacular display. One of my favourites was
‘Constance’ [B2], named after Mrs Constance Macleod, first Secretary of The
Heather Society, the beetroot-coloured flowers contrasting well with the
gold foliage.

In the centre of the garden within one of three beds forming a neat circle
was a floriferous display of ‘My Love’ [H]. The bi-coloured ‘Eden Valley’
[G] and ‘Harry Fulcher’ [Y] were noteworthy.

Other species in full flower included the Dorset heaths (E. ciliaris) ‘White
Wings’ [A] and ‘Corfe Castle’ [K1]; Mackay’s heath (E. mackaiana) ‘Galicia’
[S2]; Praeger’s heaths (E. xstuartii) ‘Irish Lemon’ [K1] and ‘Irish Rose’ [S2];
and Watson’s heath (E. xwatsonii) ‘Mary’ [X].

The Calluna cultivars were a little behind in their flowering, as were those
growing on the mountains on our way to the garden. Cherrybank has a
wide selection. There were old favourites such as ‘Robert Chapman)’ [J], ‘Peter
Sparkes’ [S2], ‘Beoley Gold’ [X] and ‘H. E. Beale’ [J], as well as the newer
introductions such as ‘Red Star’[B3], and the bud-flowerers ‘Alexandra’ [Z1]
and ‘Alicia’ [K2]. Kurt Kramer deliberately bred the latter, and it was very
fitting that he had joined us at Cherrybank along with other members of the
German Heather Society.

en

THE HEATHER SOCIETY’S PROCEEDINGS

SECOND INTERNATIONAL HEATHER CONFERENCE, COYLUMBRIDGE, SCOTLAND
20-24 Aucust 2004

3

Figure 1. The Conference delegates at the Speyside Heather Centre

Around 50 residential delegates made their way from distant parts of Britain, from
Canada, USA, Holland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden to convene for the Second
International Heather Conference at Coylumbridge. Among them were David Small,
our President, Ella May Wulff, President of the North American Heather Society,
and Alice Knight, one of our Vice-Presidents.

Those making their way by road were undaunted by the news of landslides on
the approach roads to the Scottish Highlands. Our various travel experiences were
aired and shared in the lounge of the Hilton Hotel, Coylumbridge, on the afternoon
of Friday 20 August. It was so good to meet our friends from overseas and welcome
new conference delegates too.

After a very enjoyable meal Arnold Stow, the Society’s Chairman, opened the
Conference with a warm welcome to all, particularly to those travelling from afar.
David Lambie, Director of the Speyside Heather Centre, was the guest speaker and
he welcomed delegates in his broad Scottish accent, giving us a true sense of our

}

location in the Scottish Highlands. Through his talk he gave us a deep insight into

62

the relationship between heather and the local flora and fauna. He referred to the
Scots word haeddre, which has been recorded as far back as the fourteenth century,
as being associated with Ericaceous plants, most notably Calluna. Apart from Calluna,
which is abundant in Scotland, there are only two native heathers, Erica tetralix and
E. cinerea, the former growing in the damper places, whilst the latter prefers the
drier soils.

The bird most associated with heather is the red grouse, sometimes referred to
as “The Heather Bird”. Grouse will feed on young heather shoots. The birds rely on
the heather for other sources of food, notably insects, as well as for protective cover
from predators such as the golden eagle. Other birds associated with heather are the
black grouse, ptarmigan, capercaillie, golden plover, dotterel, lapwing, curlew,
common snipe and ring ouzel.

David mentioned some of the traditional uses of heather in the Highlands. It has
been used as a building material, for the thatching of roofs: a heather roof is reckoned
to last a century. A heatherer carried out the work of heather-thatching. Heather
was also used for making rope and baskets, and for firewood. David also mentioned
that heather was employed in the brewing of heather ale and in connection with the
distilling of whisky.

Glorious sunshine greeted us at breakfast on Saturday, and the forecast for the
Conference was optimistic. After breakfast we set off by coach to visit Cherrybank
and the Scottish National Heather Collection (see pp 59-60, this issue). Here we
were joined by 30 delegates from the German Heather Society, including Jurgen
Schréder (President of Gesellschaft der Heidefreunde) and Kurt Kramer.

After we had toured the heather garden, we had lunch in the visitor centre. Our
next destination was the Scottish Plant Hunters Garden at Pitlochry. Julia Corden
and her colleague gave us a guided tour of one of Scotland’s newest gardens,
established to commemorate the efforts of those Scottish explorers who travelled to
the far reaches of the globe in search of plants. The aims of the garden are to provide
a unique garden and a centre of excellence celebrating the Scottish plant hunters; to
offer an educational resource for schools and adults; to cultivate and conserve rare
and endangered plants; and to promote visual arts, crafts and performance in an
inspirational outdoor setting. The garden has been laid out with each section
dedicated to a different explorer, with some of the plants that they introduced from
North America, China, Nepal, Japan and South Africa. Only opened since the
Millennium, the planting will take a few years to mature. Notable explorers
represented include George Forrest (1873-1932) who was sponsored to collect plants
in Yunnan, China, and is noted for his introduction of some of the finest species of
Rhododendron. David Douglas (1798-1834) explored the north-west America, Hawaii,
Portugal and the Galapagos; among the many plants he introduced into cultivation
is the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The garden also includes some notable
architecture such as the Douglas Pavilion, constructed in Douglas fir.

We also had the chance to visit the nearby salmon-ladder where the fish jump
the series of locks in their annual swim upstream to spawn.

63

On the third day, Sunday, we went to the Speyside Heather Centre, where Betty
and David Lambie greeted us. The garden was established in 1972, and the visitor
centre includes features about the uses of heather, and the flora and fauna associated
with heather in the Scottish Highlands.

At 10am we gathered for The Heather Society’s AGM (for a report see Bulletin of
The Heather Society 6 (13) (Autumn 2004): 2-3). Afterwards we explored the heather
garden which contains small, well-stocked beds with a good variety of cultivars. It
was pleasing to see so many bell heathers (Erica cinerea) including such favourite
old cultivars as ‘Atrosanguinea Smith’s Variety’, ‘Plummer’s Seedling’ and ‘Vivienne
Patricia’ that are rarely available elsewhere.

Lunch had a distinctive Scottish Highland flavour. It did not come free! Suddenly
a call went out for a delegate from each table to assemble in the kitchen. A few
minutes later a parade of new waiters emerged carrying the dishes of a Scottish
dessert, the Clootie Dumpling (Bulletin of The Heather Society 6 (13) (Autumn 2004):
3). After this delightful lunch we congregated outdoors in the Summer sunshine for
the group photograph (p. 61).

We then boarded the coach bound for the moors. David Lambie guided us on a
short walk to a site where he had previously seen a solitary white-flowered Calluna.
Many of us had never seen a white Calluna, that legendary “lucky white heather”,
in the wild. Then to everyone’s surprise Pamela Lee spotted a white-flowered plant —
of Erica cinerea. So the search was on for white-flowered E. tetralix. Our President
David Small headed off with Anne, and others followed, to conduct a brief search;
apart from a few plants with pale pink flowers, a pure white one eluded them.

Our next destination was Loch Garten, to view nesting ospreys. The osprey is a
fish-eating bird of prey about 60cm (2ft) in length, with a wingspan of 1.5m (5 ft).
After an absence of about 40 years ospreys began nesting near Loch Garten in 1959
and have nested every year since. Using the powerful binoculars provided at the
visitor centre, we all delighted in seeing two young ospreys near their nest.

Back at the hotel we prepared for a Highland Banquet. We were all a little
apprehensive about eating haggis. Suddenly, to the skirl of bagpipes, the haggis
was paraded into the Banqueting Room and the ceremonial slicing was performed
in front of us. Then the spicy haggis was washed down by a wee dram of whisky.
Next came the ceremonial carving of the cow, accompanied by another fanfare
of bagpipes. Throughout the banquet, we were entertained by a singer who
accompanied himself on the accordion.

Monday morning was chilly. The delegates visited Jack Drake’s famous alpine
nursery at Inshriach near Aviemore. John and Gunn Borrowman met us. They had
returned from Norway in 1999 to take over the nursery and garden from John
Lawson. Jack Drake, who started the nursery in the 1930s, retired in 1971 when John
Lawson took over. Jack Drake had transformed birch woodland into a nursery that
gained an international reputation for excellence and innovation. His nursery became
synonymous with gentians, Meconopsis, Primula, Lewisia and heathers. More than a
hundred new cultivars were introduced over the decades. The rock garden and

64

alpine house were of particular interest. Although there was much of interest in the
garden, especially the many uncommon plants, it had obviously seen better days.
Nevertheless we were all fascinated by the variety of plants that could be grown,
and many of us anticipated finding something quite special. Wild animals also
frequent the garden. A red squirrel was spotted, the Scottish Highlands being one
of the few localities where this native mammal is still to be found.

Afterwards we headed for Loch Morlich in the Cairngorm Mountains. Some
splendid views of the mountains were seen and then, as if rehearsed, a herd of
reindeer descended the mountain and crossed in front of the coach. Colin, the coach
driver, was heard to comment, “I do not know how much they were paid to do
that”. Lower down the valley we stopped at the Reindeer Centre where we had
lunch and were given a talk by one of the reindeer keepers. She informed us that
reindeer were exterminated in Scotland during the twelfth century. They were
re-introduced in the 1790s by the Duke of Athol, but did not survive. In 1952 Mikel
Utsi brought eight reindeer from Sweden to the Cairngorms — he and his wife, Dr
Ethel Lundgren, were the co-founders of the Reindeer Company. Mr Utsi devoted
his latter years to the practical, day-to-day management of the project, and it was
his zeal and devotion to reindeer that really made the project a success. The herd
has grown to between 130 and 150 reindeer.

Some of our party walked down to the shores of Loch Morlich before we boarded
the coach again. After a scenic drive to Rothes we arrived at the Glen Grant Whisky
Distillery for a conducted tour. Our guides gave us an introduction to the distillery,
which was founded by John and James Grant in 1840. At the end of the tour our
guides disappeared inside and then emerged holding trays with glasses of whisky.
Two strengths of whisky were on offer; one by one we sampled a “wee dram”.

Adjoining the distillery is a 26-acre garden, originally laid out by James’ uncle,
John Grant. During his many trips to foreign parts James Grant collected rare and
exotic plants, which complemented the indigenous species in the garden. At its prime,
no less than eleven gardeners were employed in the garden. The place fell into decline
in the 1930s, but it has now been restored. Old apple trees and rhododendrons planted
in the late 1880s have been retained, and new specimens from the Americas, China
and the Himalayas have been planted. The garden includes a stunning waterfall,
to which “The Major” John Grant) would often conduct his guests. Hidden in the
rock-face behind the waterfall he had built a safe, and much to the delight of his
guests “The Major” would open this with great drama.

Following breakfast on Tuesday 24 August many of us said goodbye to our
friends for another year. Others joined the post-conference tour and headed off to the
Isle of Skye.

Barry Sellers

Heathers 2: 65-68 (2005).
BOOK REVIEW & RECENT PUBLICATIONS

International register of heather names (edited by E. C. Nelson & D. J. Small). Creeting
St Mary: The Heather Society.

Volume 1: 4 parts (2000). Price £50, ISBN 0-9539079-3-7.

Volume 2: 4 parts (2004-2005). Price £50, ISBN 0-9549353-2-2.

It was not until the second half of the twentieth century that the establishment of International
Registration Authorities for individual genera or groups of genera was formalised, although
numerous listings of hybrids and cultivars, with or without descriptions, had been produced
for many centuries.

The aim, set out initially in the first edition of the International code of nomenclature for
cultivated plants (1953) (ICNCP), published by the RHS and edited by W. T. Stearn, was to
develop, in accordance with the rules of this code, a system of recording the names applied to
cultivated plants and promoting uniformity, accuracy and stability in their application.

In order to achieve this aim various organisations were encouraged to undertake
responsibility for developing international registers of cultivated plant names for specific genera
and recording as much detail as possible about each entry. No easy task, bearing in mind that
names for cultivated variants of wild plants were being applied and listed as far back as 160 Bc!

The first appointments of International Registration Authorities (now known as
International Cultivar Registration Authorities — ICRAs) took place in 1955 and, in 1970, only
seven years after its formation in 1963, The Heather Society was appointed as ICRA for the
genera Andromeda, Bruckenthalia (usually now subsumed under Erica), Calluna, Daboecia and
Erica, collectively called “heathers” or “heaths”. Prior to this appointment, David McClintock
had been compiling data on heathers and he continued, as Registrar, to seek and record
information in his voluminous card index system which has been the “rock” on which the
International register of heather names has been built.

Ambitious projects such as this, using the limited human and financial resources of a
relatively small specialist society, place considerable demands on those involved but there is
no doubt that members of The Heather Society can be and should be justifiably proud of the
publication of volume 1 of this International register which covers the hardy cultivars and
European species as well as those from Asia Minor, the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands
and North Africa.

Volume 1, published in 2000, consists of four parts and the entries throughout are arranged
in strict alphabetical sequence, covering all cultivar, hybrid and botanical names that have
been located in the five genera for which the ICRA for heathers is responsible.

As the five genera were then considered as a single “denomination class”, the rules of
ICNCP did not permit duplication of cultivar names within these genera. Consequently
an alphabetical system, clearly explained in the Preamble on p. 1 in the paragraph headed
“Arrangement”, has been developed. Although initially this appeared somewhat complex to
use, I found that, when selecting the epithets alba and rubra, to search the entries for each
epithet to check which usages were accepted and which were referred elsewhere, it worked
extremely well.

Underneath the headings for each entry in the checklist, short sections preceded by symbols,
provide further information, including a brief description; reasons for the rejection of an epithet
or name (where appropriate); place of publication of the name; useful illustrations; the history
of the cultivar (where known); and, of course, the name that it is considered is correct to use.
While not a fan of symbols in publications generally, I found that here they were unambiguous
and the system devised was very practical and simple to use.

66

In such a complex work as an international register (and indeed in the vast majority of
horticultural and botanical publications) it is inevitable that some errors may occur but these
are remarkably few in this Register, as I found when randomly sampling pages from all four
parts of Volume 1.

My only minor quibble relates to Part 1 (A-C) p. 3 where I had expected the alphabetical
listing to begin at the top of the page. I was slightly thrown by the first entry “12 — Erica carnea
12.” I then glanced further down the page where it became clear that this was a numbered
clone submitted for Plant Breeders’ Rights, one of half a dozen clones numbered prior to cultivar
names being applied. This had not been referred to in the Preamble but may be worth noting
when any update or revision of the Register is undertaken. At the same time, perhaps, I would
suggest that consideration should be given to adding (or possibly publishing separately) a
Bibliography to bring together the many useful references already included under the
alphabetical entries. As the information in the Register is derived from a computerised database
this could be a relatively easy task in the future and would provide ready access to sources of
further information on the five genera covered by the Register.

It is very evident that all those who took part in the preparation of the Register have carried
out an enormous amount of research involving very thorough investigation of the literature.
The resulting production of Volume 1 is a great credit to The Heather Society, an achievement
that owes much to the dedication and scholarship of the editors, Charles Nelson and David
Small, as well as to many other heather enthusiasts who contributed from their own knowledge
to produce this invaluable, major reference work on the “heathers” and “heaths” north of the
Tropic of Cancer.

The first (of four) parts of Volume 2 of the International register which is devoted to the
African species, hybrids and cultivars of Erica has also recently been published in August
2004. These are the “Cape heaths” once very popular as greenhouse plants and as pot-plants
for the Christmas trade. They were also widely grown in the late eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries but are much less frequently seen today in spite of their often very colourful and
attractive flowers.

Volume 2 covers all the heathers that occur wild in Africa, south of the Tropic of Cancer, as
well as those in the nearby islands of the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans, such as
Madagascar. The natural and artificial hybrids and the cultivars derived from them are also
listed with appropriate data.

Volume 2 part 1 (A-C) follows the same strict alphabetical sequence and format that was
used in Volume 1 and equivalent data and information is provided for each entry. Unravelling
the complexity of the application and validity of the names of the numerous “Cape heaths”
described as species in the past (many of which nowadays would be considered cultivars)
must have been a mammoth task and one at which most taxonomists would blench!

To complicate the taxonomic situation further more than 60 “minor” genera of African
Ericeae, closely related to Erica, have been described in the past from this region. Taxonomic
opinion, thankfully, now considers they should all be subsumed under Erica and all the names
of these taxa are now included in the Register. A list of these genera is provided in Annex 1
while a list of references consulted, but not cited in the checklist of entries, is given in Annex 2.

As the editors recognise, in any complex compilations of data like the volumes of this
International register, amendments and additions will undoubtedly be forthcoming in the future.
I have no doubt however, that when the remaining parts of Volume 2 are published this will
prove to be as invaluable a reference work as Volume 1. Both should be in the library of anyone
interested in growing “heaths” and “heathers” and, while the Register is likely to be used mainly
by gardeners and horticulturists, it will be a very important reference work for taxonomists
and botanists as well.

C. D. BricKELL (President, The Heather Society, 1978-1989)

67

Recent publications

ALLEN, D.E. & HATFIELD, G., 2004. Medicinal plants in folk tradition. An ethnobotany of Britain
and Ireland. Portland & Cambridge: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-638-8. £22.50.

This fascinating book seeks to rescue from oblivion indigenous knowledge about medicinal uses of
native plants. That corpus of hard-won information from these islands owes nothing to the ‘learned
repertory’, nor to exotic herbs that were deliberately cultivated. The authors exclude anything linked
to uses mentioned in the ‘classic’ herbals of antiquity and more recent centuries. (For reviews see The

garden 129 (7, July 2004): 571, and Bulletin of The Heather Society 6 (13, Summer 2004): 7-8.)

ANONYMOUS, 2004. Invaluable spring heather. The Irish garden 13 (3: March): 22.

Advice: but without naming any heathers!

ANONYMOUS, 2004. Heather for a rock garden. The Irish garden 13 (8: September): 18.
Advice: 15 “calluna-type [sic] heathers do not flower in winter ... worth planting for foliage alone.” But
photograph is of Erica!

ANONYMOUS, 2004. Project report reveals prime area for heath. Planning, 5 November: 4.
Joint East of England Heathland Opportunity Mapping Project Report, by the Forestry Commission,
the East of England Development Agency, English Nature and the RSPB.

CHEFFINGS, C., 2004. New plant status list for Great Britain. BSBI news 95: 36-43.

Erica ciliaris and E. vagans listed within “Nationally rare taxa not in an IUCN category”.

EIWORTH, K., 2003. Bjud in Melanie, Anette och deras ljungkompisar pa balkongen.
Hemtrdgarden 6: 18.

Bud-flowering Calluna; in Swedish.

FAGUNDEZ, J. & IZCO, J., 2003. Seed maaaeidey of Erica L. sect. Chlorocodon Bentham.
Acta botanica Gallica 150: 401- 410.

Seed morphology of E. scoparia, and its subspecies. [not seen]

FAGUNDEZ, J. & IZCO, J., 2004. Taxonomic value of seed characters in the Erica tetralix L.
group (Ericaceae). Plant biosystems 138: 207— 213.

Seed morphology of E. tetralix, E. mackaiana and E. andevalensis. [not seen]

GORISSEN, I., 2004. Die Zwergstrauch Heiden Europas — vom Atlantik bis zum Kaukasus und

Ural. Dwarf shrub heaths of Europea — from Atlantic to Caucasus and Ural. Siegburg:
I. Gorissen. Pp 184. ISBN 3-00-013685-1. 49 euro.
Gorissen’s “extraordinary interest in the description and distribution of these European habitats made
him travel all over Europe [during] the last 12 years to do this research. The book is the result of more
than 70 journeys.” The author informs us that this book contains “all European Ericas and their habitats.”
Bilingual, in German and English, with 373 colour photographs. [not seen]

JACQUEMART, A.-L., 2003. Floral traits of Belgian Ericaceae species: are they good
indicators to assess the breeding systems? Belgian journal of botany 136: 154-164.

Includes Andromeda polifolia, Calluna vulgaris and Erica tetralix.

JOHANSSON, B., 2003. Den nyttiga ljungen. Hemtrdgdrden 6: 30-32.

Calluna: uses, names, folk-lore; in Swedish.

JONES, D., 2004. Spreading new life — and heather. Glossop chronicle 9 December: 6.

The “Moors for the Future” project is transferring heather by hand and by a helicopter-carried spreader
from parts of the Peak District which are flourishing to degraded sites on Kinder, Bleaklow and Arnfield.

(See www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk.)

KEENAN, M., 2003. Top 50 for winter. The Irish garden 12 (10: December): 36-41.
Advice: “Choose compact, bushy varieties.” (Same issue includes a promotion for “Quality Irish Grown
Heathers” (p. 51) and Whyte’s article, see below).

LASHLEY, B., 2004. Helicopter rescue for peat’s sake. Manchester evening news 13 December: 16.
See summary of Jones, D. (2004) above.

NELSON, E.C., 2003. James Townsend Mackay -— Trinity College botanist. The | rish garden 12
(10: December): 54—56.

Biographical article. Erica mackaiana was named after him; illustrations include ‘Shining Light’, and Ericaerigena.

68

NELSON, E.C., 2004. The enigma of the alien heathers of Britain, especially
Erica xdarleyensis. BSBI news 95: 12-14.
(For updated version see Bulletin of The Heather Society 6(14) (Spring 2005)).

NELSON, E.C., 2004. ‘When the swift appears turn out the greenhouse’. The Irish garden
13 (4: May): 56-59.
About John Templeton (1766-1825), naturalist and gardener, and his garden at Cranmore, Malone, Belfast.
Among heaths he cultivated were Erica tubiflora (probably E. curviflora) — outdoors it reached “near four
feet high” — and E. australis (illustrated). Also mentioned is Andromeda polifolia with striped, five-sided bells.

NELSON, E.C. & OLIVER, E.G.H., 2004. Cape heaths in European gardens: the early
history of South African Erica species in cultivation, their deliberate hybridization and
the orthographic bedlam. Bothalia 34 (2): 127-140.
This paper discusses the horticultural history of southern African Erica spp. in Europe, and especially
in Britain, during the late eighteenth and the early decades of the nineteenth century. We note evidence
for the deliberate hybridization of the so-called Cape heaths by European horticulturists, in particular
by the English nurseryman William Rollisson and by the Very Rev. William Herbert. We discuss some
of the nomenclatural consequences of the naming by miscellaneous botanists and nurserymen of the
hundreds of new Erica species and hybrids, emphasizing the proliferation of eponyms. An appendix
tabulates eponyms and their numerous orthographic variants published before 1835 within Erica, and
provides the correct orthography for these epithets.

OLIVER, E.G.H., 2004. Nomenclatural changes in Erica. Bothalia 34: 38.
Erica salicina (replacing E. viminalis E. G. H. Oliver) and orthography of E. pilaarkopensis.

OLIVER, E. G. H. & OLIVER, I. M., 2004. Two new species of Erica (Ericaceae); one from
Western Cape and one from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Bothalia 34: 11-15.
Erica jananthus (Western Cape); E. psittacina (KwaZulu-Natal); illustrated.

TURNER, R.C. & OLIVER, E. G. H., 2004. A new species of indehiscent-fruited Erica
from the central Kouebokkeveld, Western Cape, South Africa. Bothalia 34: 39-41.
Erica tragomontana R. C. Turner.

PILCHER, J. & HALL, V., 2004. Flora hibernica. The wild flowers, plants and trees of Ireland.
Cork: The Collins Press. Pp x, 203. ISBN 1-903464-51-X (limp covers). ?25.
Paperback re-issue of an excellent book published in 2001. Includes chapters on main habitats, including
“Bogs and wetlands”, within which heathers are mentioned. Numerous colour photographs: but, both
pictures (pp 50, 66) showing cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix) are mislabelled “bell heather”.

PRYCE, R.D., 2004. The Rhos pastures of south-west Wales and their conservation.
Presidential address, 10 May 2003. Watsonia 25: 1-16.
Characterised by Carum verticillatum (whorled caraway); also includes a heathy element (Erica tetralix,
Calluna vulgaris); distribution maybe of E. tetralix.

RICE, G., 2004. By design, not just good luck. The garden 129 (1): 50-51.
“Ericas are certainly not the most fashionable of plants.” Rice’s avers that finding “new planting partners
for garden stalwarts can be a challenge.” Suggested partners for stalwart winter-flowering heathers are
Hedera colchica ‘Sulphur Heart’, white-stemmed Rubus cockburnianus, grasses and Bergenia, and bulbs

such as Chionodoxa luciliae. Illustrated.
SIEBEN, E.J.J., BOUCHER, C. & MUCINA, L., 2004. Vegetation of high-altitude fens and restio
marshlands of the Hottentots Holland Mountains, Western Cape, South Africa. Bothalia

34: 141-153. Describes vegetation communities, all dominated by Restionaceae, containing Erica spp.;
E. autumnalis [invalid name], E. lutea, E. sitiens, E. coccinea, E. fastigiata, E. curviflora, E. hispidula,

E. intervallaris, E. calycina, E. triflora and E. longifolia are present in these mountain fens and marshlands.
SZKUDLARZ, P., 2001. Morphological and anatomical structure of seeds in the family
Ericaceae. Biological bulletin of Poznan 38 113-132.
Erica tetralix and Calluna vulgaris seeds (illustrated).
WHYTE, P., 2004. All around the blooming heather. The Irish garden 13 (8: September): 22-27.

Mostly about Calluna and Erica cinerea. Ulustrated.

69
Supplement to the International register of heather names V (2005)

REGISTERED CULTIVARS

CaLLuna: 5 cultivars, all selections from C. vulgaris.

‘Athene’ [established here]

Registration no. C01:2004: registered on 19 February 2004 by Kurt Kramer, Edewecht,
Germany.
* Bud-flowering; corolla red, calyx dark red; September-November; foliage dark green.
@ Sport on ‘Amethyst’ found by Wilfried Holzwart, Hoisdorf, Germany, on 23 September 2002 at
Betrieb Holzwart. “Bliitenfarbe frtther rot und dunkler als bei ‘Aphrodite’.”
@ Eponym: after the Greek goddess.

‘Forest Fire’ [established here]
Registration no. C04:2004: registered on 16 December 2004 by David Edge, Wimborne, Dorset.

+ Green foliage with salmon coloured new growth in Spring and throughout Summer; flowers mauve,
single, late Summer (August—October); habit broad, ascending, to 40cm tall, 45cm across.

@ Chance seedling found in 2001 by David Edge, in his nursery at Wimborne, Dorset.

A floramedia label (BHG0114).

@The name alludes to the yellow/orange/red tips to new growth, linked with nursery name.

‘Galaxy’ [established here]

Registration no. C05:2004: registered on 14 December 2004 by David Wilson, Chilliwack,
British Columbia, Canada.
+* Bud-flowering; white, August-November; foliage yellow-gold; habit upright, compact; a more upright,
tidy habit than other gold-foliage, white bud-flowering cultivars.
@ Selected from trials at Wilson’s Nursery, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, in October 2004 by
David Wilson.
@® Fantasy name.

‘Lukas’

Registration no. C02:2004: registered on 24 September 2004 by H. J. Kuipers, Nijensleek,
Netherlands.
#Flowers white, single, September—October; foliage yellow. “Habit strong, erect. Has the same
characteristics as ‘Long White’ (healthy, strong, erect growth)” but is distinguished by the bright yellow
foliage; it is also clearly not the same as ‘Fortyniner Gold’.
@ Sport on ‘David Hagenaars’, found by H. J. Kuipers in his nursery in 1998.
GYEricultura 135: 9, 13-14 (2004).
AFricultura 135: 20 (2004).
@® Eponym: after H. J. Kuipers’ son.

‘Strathspey’ [established here]
Registration no. C03:2004: registered November 2004 by David Lambie, Speyside Heather
Centre, Dulnain Bridge, Scotland.
# Foliage “bronze, turning fiery-red in winter”, yellow(green); colours in winter much quicker than
other foliage cultivars; flowers lavender with dark anthers, August-mid-September; habit upright, to
30cm tall, to 45cm across after 3-4 years.
@ Chance seedling at Speyside Heather Centre, Dulmain Bridge, Inverness-shire; on sale in August
2004 at the Second International Heather Conference.

@Toponym: after the region in which it originated.

70

DaBoecia: 1 cultivar.

‘Sid Brown’
Registration no. D01:2004: registered 28 October 2004 by Mrs C. M. Bowerman, Champs
Hill, Pulborough.
#Flowers mauve (H2), calyx beetroot (H9); May—September; foliage dark green, small, fine; habit
compact, dwarf, to 30cm tall (after 5 years).
@ Chance seedling at Champs Hill, Pulborough, Sussex, found in 1999.
@ Eponym: after Sid Brown, gardener at Champs Hill; named by Mrs C. M. Bowerman.
Notes: On the registration form it was named D. xscotica but that is a tentative identification; in The
Heather Society 130th Council minutes (26 November 2003) it is mentioned as an improbable hybrid
between Daboecia cantabrica and Erica cinerea.

Erica: 4 cultivars.

‘Edewecht Belle’ (E. spiculifolia x bergiana)

Registration no. E02:2004: registered on 4 July 2004 by The Registrar, The Heather Society.
* see Heathers 2: 22 (this issue).
@ Selected clone of an artificial hybrid, E. spiculifolia pollinated by E. bergiana; raised by Kurt Kramer.
Der Heidegarten 56: 54-55.

‘Edewecht Blush’ (E. spiculifolia x bergiana)

Registration no. E01:2004: registered on 10 April 2004 by The Registrar, The Heather Society.
* see Heathers 2: 21 (this issue).
@ Selected clone of an artificial hybrid, E. spiculifolia pollinated by E. bergiana; raised by Kurt Kramer.
© Der Heidegarten 56: 54-56.

‘Goldrush’ (E.xdarleyensis) [established here]
Registration no. E03:2004: registered on 3 August 2004 by David Wilson, Chilliwack,
British Columbia, Canada.
# Corolla pink, calyx pale pink; January—May; foliage green-gold in summer, changing to yellow-gold
in winter; habit broad, upright. More vigorous, and foliage less orange than other golden-foliage
E. Xdarleyensis.
@ Selected in 2003 from a deliberate cross between E. carnea ‘Golden Starlet’ x E. erigena ‘Brian Proudley’
made in 1996 by David Wilson, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada.

@ Name alludes to foliage colour and western North American history; named by Crystal Gillingham
(Wilson’s Nursery Ltd).

‘Raye’s Gold’ (perhaps E. xdarleyensis) [established here]
Registration no. E04:2004: registered on 18 November 2004 By Chris Gill, Hamilton,
New Zealand.
* Corolla white, calyx brown; June-August (southern hemisphere); foliage bright gold throughout
the year (as yet there has not been any evidence of reversion or scorching in temperatures often above
30°C); habit spreading.
@ Branch sport on an unidentified white-flowered cultivar (not extant) believed to have been
E. xdarleyensis (but more likely to have been E. carnea ‘Springwood White’); found in 2001 by C. Gill in
his garden in Hamilton, New Zealand.
@ Eponym: named by Mr Gill after his late wife Raye.

CLARIFICATIONS

Calluna vulgaris ‘Multicolor’

71

In Heathers 1: 65 (2004), we published the ruling of the International Commission
for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants, and I realise, following a query from
Jos Flecken, that the wording is ambiguous. The Commission ruled that there
was no reason to conserve the name ‘Multicolor’; it is an acceptable name and
should continue to be used.

Erica carnea ‘Pink Cecilia M. Beale’

The entry for this cultivar name in the International register of heather names volume
1, part 3: 133, contradicts the entry for the name ‘Cecilia M. Beale Pink’ in
International register of heather names volume 1, part 1: 114. The correct name is
‘Pink Cecilia M. Beale’; the name ‘Cecilia M. Beale Pink’ is rejected and must not
be used for this cultivar.

NAMES NEW TO THE INTERNATIONAL REGISTER OF HEATHER NAMES
Only names that are published or in the public domain via web-sites are
included here.

Andromeda polifolia
‘Pink Ice’: The plant locator Western region, 67 (2004).

Calluna vulgaris

‘Abendrot’: Der Heidegarten 55: 37 (2004).
‘Alida’: Europlant-Canders GmbH website [accessed 6 December 2003, ECN]; Ericultura 133:
2(2004).

‘Alissa Diane’: Cascade Heather Society newsletter Fall 2003: 3.

‘Alizee’: Ericultura 133: 27 (2004).

‘Andrea’: Ericultura 133: 27 (2004).

‘Anke C’: Der Heidegarten 55: 29 (2004).

‘Aurora’: Der Heidegarten 50: 22, 36 (2001); __ 55: 36 (2004).

‘Bajazzo’: Der Heidegarten 56: 44 (2004).

‘Bonita’: Der Heidegarten 48: 12 (2000); __ 50: 25, 36 (2001); __ 55: 24 (2004); Ericultura 130:24 (2003).

‘Carmelita’: Heidepflanzen database of Sondergruppe Azerca, Bonn, Germany, 2002.

‘Carolin’: Der Heidegarten 54: 41 (2003); __ 55: 37(2004).

‘Charmaine’: Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Colorado’: Der Heidegarten 55: 46 (2004).

‘Darleyensis Victoria’ (rejected): Catalog 1991, Howland Heathers etc. (Hubbard, Oregon, USA): 3.

‘Dunkelrote Amethyst’: Der Heidegarten 55: 26 (2004).

‘Elena’: Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Elongata Alba’ (rejected): Handy guide to heathers: 28 (2001, 3rd edn).

‘Esprit’: Der Heidegarten 55: 46 (2004).

‘Eurosa’: Ericultura 130: 27 (2003); Der Heidegarten 55: 31 (2004).

‘Feuerzauber’: Ericultura 130: 27 (2003); Der Heidegarten 55: 31 (2004).

‘Fisser’s Fancy’ (error): Der Heidegarten 55: 24 (2004).

‘Flamenco’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 35 heft 11: 392 (2002); Ericultura 133: 31 (2004); Der Heidegarten 54:
35-36 (2004); 55: 37

‘Flamenco Variegata’ (rejected): Der Heidegarten 54: 36 (2004); __ 56: 44 (2004).

‘Flamenco Variegated’: Ericultura 133: 31 (2004); Der Heidegarten 55: 37 (2004).

‘Fluffy Ruffle’: Heath and heather & hardy garden ferns (Woodville Nursery, Rogue River, Oregon,
USA), 29 (2004).

TP

‘Fraser’s Old Gold’ (accepted): Yearbook of The Heather Society 2001: 53; Handy guide to heathers: 31, 55
(2001, 3rd edn).

‘Gelbe Marleen’: Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Gent’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 10: 346

‘Glenfiddish’ (error): Heath and heather & hardy garden ferns (Woodville Nursery, Rogue River,
Oregon, USA), 30 (2004).

‘Goldrush’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 10: 346 (2003); Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Goldsworth’ (error): Heath and heather & hardy garden ferns (Woodville Nursery, Rogue River,
Oregon, USA), 30 (2004).

‘Greta Gerticular’: The plant locator Western region, 102 (2004).

‘H. Herbstfeuer’ (error): List 2001, Kapels Baumschulen (Edewecht, Germany); Handy guide to
heathers: 39 (2001, 3rd edn).

‘Heidebrand’ (rejected): List 2001, Kapels Baumschulen (Edewecht, Germany).

‘Hellrote Anette’: Der Heidegarten 55: 26 (2004).

‘Heusden’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 10: 346

‘Katherina’: Bundessortenamt website [accessed 15 October 2004, DJS].

‘Laarne’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 10: 346

‘Leonie’: Europlant-Canders GmbH website [accessed 6 December 2003, ECN]; Ericultura 133: 28
(2004); Der Heidegarten 56: 48 [as ‘Leonia’ ] (2004).

‘Lianne’: Europlant-Canders GmbH website [accessed 6 December 2003, ECN].

‘Lissi’: Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Lucienne’: Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Lusanne’: Europlant-Canders GmbH website [accessed 6 December 2003, ECN].

‘Lusille’: Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Magic Red’: Der Heidegarten 54: 42 (2003); __ 55: 37 (2004); __ 56: 48 (2004).

‘Marielle’: Ericultura 130: 30 (2003); Der Heidegarten 55: 30 (2004).

‘Marienetta’: Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Marina’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 35 heft 11: 389.

‘Melasel’ (rejected): Der Heidegarten 55: 27 (2004).

‘Merlyn’: Europlant-Canders GmbH website [accessed 6 December 2003, ECN]; Ericultura 133: 28 (2004).

‘Minsting’: Tradgdrdsamatoren 1995 (1): 10, 13; [International register of heather names 1 (3): 75 in error

as ‘Ministing’].

‘Miranda’: Ericultura 133: 29 (2004).

‘Mirato’ (accepted, replacement name for ‘Kontrast’ (Yearbook of The Heather Society 1999: 70)).

‘Mister Beale’ (error): Spectrum NATUUR encyclopedie deel 1: 244 (1979).

‘Monodie’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 35 heft 11: 389 (2002); Ericultura 133: 29 (2004).

‘Morgenrot’: List 2001, Kapels Baumschulen (Edewecht, Germany).

‘Moritz’: Der Heidegarten 55: 36 (2004).

‘Mrs Beale’ (error): Handy guide to heathers: 52 (2001, 3rd edn).

‘Pendula’ (rejected): List 2002, Anna & Roman Kowalski Nursery, Czerwonal, Poland.

‘Pia’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 10: 346 (2003); Ericultura 133: 29 (2004); Der Heidegarten 55: 37 (2004).

‘Pink Bell’: The plant locator Western region, 102 (2004).

‘Prairy Fire’ (error): Der Heidegarten 50: 19 (2001).

‘Purple Bell’: The plant locator Western region, 102 (2004).

‘Purple Prostrate’: Catalogue, Larkman Nurseries (Lilydale, Victoria, Australia), 17 (July 2002).

‘Pyrmidallis Purple’ (error): Catalog 1991, Howland Heathers etc. (Hubbard, Oregon, USA): 3.

‘Pyrmidallis White’ (error): Catalog 1991, Howland Heathers etc. (Hubbard, Oregon, USA): 3.

‘Radson’: Plantenvinder 1997 (RHS Plant finder CD-ROM 1999-2000).

‘Romantic Scotland’ (error): Heather news quarterly 104: 18 (2003); __ 105: 15-16 (2004); Heathers 1: 71
(2004); Bulletin of The Heather Society 6 (11): 8-9 (2004).

‘Rosa Bella’, ‘Rosabella’ (errors for ‘Bella Rosa’): Der Heidegarten 55: 29 (2004).

‘Sally Anne’ (error): Handy guide to heathers: 64 (2001, 3rd edn).

‘Samantha’: Der Heidegarten 54: 42 (2003); Ericultura 133: 29 (2004).

‘Scarlet’ (rejected): Der Heidegarten 50: 28 (2001).

‘Scholljes Gigant’ (error): www.hied]-gbr.de/calluna.htm [accessed 31 August 2003].

‘Scotch Pink’: Catalog 1991, Howland Heathers etc. (Hubbard, Oregon, USA): 3; Heath and heather
& hardy garden ferns (Woodville Nursery, Rogue River, Oregon, USA), 31 (2004).

13

‘Senta’: Europlant-Canders GmbH website [accessed 6 December 2003, ECN]; Ericultura 133: 29 (2004).
‘Sharon’: Ericultura 133: 29 (2004).

‘Shirlita’: Ericultura 130: 37 (2003); Der Heidegarten 54: 42 (2003); __ 55: 30 (2004).

‘Son of Kuphaldtii’: Catalog 1991, Howland Heathers etc. (Hubbard, Oregon, USA): 4.
‘Springfield’: The plant locator Western region, 103 (2004).

‘Stephanie’ (orthographic error): Handy guide to heathers: 71 (2001, 3rd edn).

‘Summer Snow’ : The plant locator Western region, 103 (2004).

‘Sunny’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 10: 346 (2003); Der Heidegarten 55: 31 (2004).

‘Tricolorfolia’ (error): Catalogue 2001-2002, Doran Nurseries Ltd (Donadea, Co. Kildare, Ireland).
‘Venetia’: Europlant-Canders GmbH website [accessed 6 December 2003, ECN]; Ericultura 133: 29 (2004).
‘Veronique’: Europlant-Canders GmbH website [accessed 6 December 2003, ECN]; Ericultura 133: 29 (2004).
‘Victorious’: Ericultura 130: 38 (2003); Der Heidegarten 54: 42 (2003); 55: 30 (2004).

‘Vigsnes’: Der Heidegarten 48: 43 (2000).

‘Westerlee Yellow’ (error for ‘Westerlee Gold’): List May 2001, G. van Hoef (Barneveld, Netherlands).
‘White Beauty’ (variant: correct name ‘White-beauty’): Der Heidegarten 50: 27 (2001).

‘White Bell’: The plant locator Western region, 103 (2004).

‘WINK4’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 7: 269.

‘WINKS’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 7: 269.

‘WINK’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 7: 269.

‘WINK7’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 7: 269.

Daboecia azorica
‘Art Dome’ (error): Heather news 25 (2): 14 (2002).
‘Arthur P. Dome’: Heather news 24 (2): 2-4 (2001). -
‘Elegant Red’: Heather news 24 (2): 2 (2001).
‘Exquisite Red’: Heather news 24 (2): 2 (2001).
‘Petite Red’: Heather news 24 (2): 2 (2001).
— cantabrica
‘Amelie’: Ericultura 133: 29 (2004).
‘Berrydown Red’ (rejected): Yearbook of The Heather Society 2001: 42.
‘Trish Bell’: The plant locator Western region, 156 (2004).
‘Newberry’ (rejected): Yearbook of The Heather Society 2001: 42.
‘Newberryii’ (rejected): Yearbook of The Heather Society 2001: 42.
‘Purple Bell’: The plant locator Western region, 156 (2004).
‘Rudra’ (error): Heath and heather & hardy garden ferns (Woodville Nursery, Rogue River, Oregon,
USA), 34 (2004) [specific epithet also misspelled “cantatrica’” J.
‘Vally’s Red’ (error for ‘Waley’s Red): List 2001, Kapels Baumschulen (Edewecht, Germany).

Erica

‘Purple Bells’: The plant locator Western region, 188 (2004)

australis

‘Riverlea’ (error): Trade list, Mason’s Nurseries, Te Awamutu (New Zealand), not paginated
(1993) [in error as Erica Riverlea Australis].

carnea

‘Alaska’: Der Heidegarten 55: 46 (2004).

‘Carina’: Der Heidegarten 55: 46 (2004).

‘Dark Springwood Pink’: Yearbook of The Heather Society 3 (4): 24—27 (1986).

‘March Seeding’ (error): Catalogue 2001-2002, Doran Nurseries Ltd (Donadea, Co. Kildare, Ireland).

‘Memory’: Der Heidegarten 55: 46 (2004).

‘Myertown Ruby’ (error): Heath and heather & hardy garden ferns (Woodville Nursery, Rogue River,
Oregon, USA), 33 (2004).

‘Myrton Ruby’ (error): Catalogue, Alouette Nursery, Ashburton (New Zealand), 12 (Summer 1986).

‘Pink C. M. Beale’ (error): Catalogue, Alouette Nursery, Ashburton (New Zealand), 12 (Summer 1986).

‘Pink Glow’: The plant locator Western region, 187 (2004).

‘Rosey Gem’ (error): Catalogue 2001-2002, Doran Nurseries Ltd (Donadea, Co. Kildare, Ireland).

‘Snow Star’: Der Heidegarten 55: 46 (2004).

‘Springwood Whit’ (error): Spectrum NATUUR encyclopedie deel 2: 508 (1979).

74

‘Springwoods White’ (error): Catalogue, Plantorama (New Zealand), 11 (1977-1978).
‘Tanja’: Der Heidegarten 54: 40 (2003).
‘Tatjana’: Der Heidegarten 54: 46 (2003); Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 4 (2003); Ericultura 132: 38 (2004).
‘Winter Sports’ (error): RHS plant finder 1996: 224; The plant locator Western region, 187 (2004).
cinerea
‘C. D. Easton’ (error): Heath and heather & hardy garden ferns (Woodville Nursery, Rogue River,
Oregon, USA), 34 (2004).
‘Foxhollow Mahogony’ (error): Catalogue 2001-2002, Doran Nurseries Ltd (Donadea, Co. Kildare,
Ireland).
‘Purple Bell’: The plant locator Western region, 187 (2004).
xdarleyensis
‘Amy’ (rejected; correct name ‘Eva Gold’): Listed by G. van Hoef, Barneveld, Netherlands, October 2004.
‘Big Pink’ (rejected): Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 7: 269
‘Big Red’ (rejected): Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 7: 269
‘Big White’ (rejected): Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 36 heft 7: 269
‘Eva Gold’ (replacement name for ‘Eva’): Ericultura 133: 26-27 (2004); Der Heidegarten 56: 32 (2004).
‘J. W. Potter’ (error): Trade list, Ardmore Nurseries, Papakura (New Zealand), not paginated (1989).
‘Johannes Apel’: Der Heidegarten 47: 15 (2000).
‘Lena’ (new identification): [Der Heidegarten 46: 48 (1999); __ 54: 43 (2003); Yearbook of The Heather
Society 2001: 57 all as E. carnea ‘Lena’.]
‘Red Spring Surprise’: Blatt fiir Sortenwesen 34 heft 1: 9 (2001); Der Heidegarten 54: 43 (2003).
— erigena
‘Gold Lady’ (error): Tradelist, Duncan & Davies (New Zealand), 9 (Winter 1993); List, Growing
Spectrum, Kihikihi (New Zealand), 12.
x griffithsii
‘Valerie Griffith’ (error): Heath and heather & hardy garden ferns (Woodville Nursery, Rogue River,
Oregon, USA), 35 (2004).
—— “hybrida” (invalid: this name must not be used for any hardy heather)
‘Darlyensis’ (error): Catalogue, Blue Mountain Nurseries, Tapanui (New Zealand), 8 (1974-1975).
‘Furzey’: Handy guide to heathers: 137 (2001, 3rd edn).
‘George Rendall’: Handy guide to heathers: 137 (2001, 3rd edn).
‘Mediterranean Pink’: Handy guide to heathers: 137 (2001, 3rd edn).
‘Silberschmelze’: Handy guide to heathers: 137 (2001, 3rd edn).
—— multiflora
‘Davidsii’ (error): Catalogue, Plantorama (New Zealand), 11 (1977-1978).
—— “rubra” (invalid)
‘Gwavas’: S.J. Palmer, Parker’s manual of trees, shrubs & climbers from Queensland, 77 (1990).
—— “standishii” (invalid)
‘Purple Haze’: The plant locator Western region, 188 (2004).
—— stricta
‘Aldgate’: E. E. Lord, Shrubs and trees for Australian gardens, 329 (1964, 4th edn).
—— tetralix
‘Dawn’ (error): Catalogue 2001-2002, Doran Nurseries Ltd (Donadea, Co. Kildare, Ireland).
‘Mollis Dawn’ (rejected): Catalog 1991, Howland Heathers etc. (Hubbard, Oregon, USA): 5.
‘Rosea’: D. McClintock in G. Yates, The gardener’s book of heathers: 158 (1985); Handy guide to
heathers: 150 (1998, 2nd edn); _: 150 (2001, 3rd edn).
vagans
‘Diana Hornibrock’ (error): Spectrum NATUUR encyclopedie deel 2: 508 (1979).
‘St Kevern’ (error): Trade list, Ardmore Nurseries, Papakura (New Zealand), not paginated (1989).
‘Valerie Proundly’ (error): Okells Nurseries Heathers for all seasons [list] (not dated, 2003).
xwatsonil
‘Dawn (Gratis)’ (rejected): Catalog 1991, Howland Heathers etc. (Hubbard, Oregon, USA): 5.
‘Heoralys’(new identification): [Heather notes 4 (3): 6 (1994) as E. ciliaris].
‘Stuartii’ (error): Handy guide to heathers: 159 (1998, 2nd edn); __: 160 (2001, 3rd edn).

THE HEATHER SOCIETY

Chairman: (email: ajs@widmour.freeserve.co.uk)

Mr A.J. Stow: Widmour, Limmer Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP12 4QOR
Secretary and Slide Librarian: (email: jeanjulian@zetnet.co.uk)

Mrs J. Julian: Matchams, Main Street, Askham Richard, YO23 3PT.

Treasurer: (email: pjoyner@supanet.com)

Mr. P. Joyner: 84 Kinross Road, Rushington Manor, Totton, Southampton, SO40 9BN.
Registrar and Editor of Yearbook: (email: registrar@zetnet.co.uk)

Dr. E.C. Nelson: Tippitiwitchet Cottage, Hall Road, Outwell, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 8PE
Editor of Bulletin: (email: everettbannut@zetnet.co.uk)

Mrs D. Everett: The Bannut, Bringsty, WR6 5TA.

Administrator: (email: heathers@zetnet.co.uk)

Mrs A. Small: Denbeigh, All Saints Road, Creeting St Mary, Ipswich, IP6 8PJ.

Editor of Yearbook

Dr. E. Charles Nelson
Tippitiwitchet Cottage, Hall Road, Outwell
Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 8PE
Tel: 01945 773 057 Fax: 01945 774 077
e-mail: registrar@zetnet.co.uk

All material for the 2006 issue of the Yearbook of The Heather Society
must reach the Editor not later than 31 October 2005.
Articles may be submitted by e-mail.

DATES OF PUBLICATION OF YEARBOOKS

2001: 13 March 2001
2002; 925 February 2002
2003: 21 February 2003
2004: 10 March 2004

CONTENTS

E.G.H. Oliver Erica junonia var. junonia

R. Canovan Heathers: coping with the weather and
alkaline clay

B. Johansson Suggestions for a bed of heathers II: mixed

planting
C. Rogers Mix and match: a search for year-round colour
J. Schréder The explosion of bud-flowerers

E.C. Nelson Cultivar names for two remarkable heathers
from Kurt Kramer, Edewecht, Germany

R. B. Stewart & C. W. N. Anderson
Erica andevalensis, a unique “copper flower”
from Spain

Pioreyn Focus on sunbirds: the art of sunbird
photography
R. Arruda Humming and feeding on the Pacific Rim

E. C. Nelson & J. V. Aubrey
Fred Esgate (1911-2003): the last breeder of
Cape heaths in Britain

S. Siebert & S. Ramdhani
Heathers on the roof of Africa: The Bale
Mountains of Ethiopia

5. Miwa Cape heaths in Pacific Flora 2004

E. C. Nelson & E. G. H. Oliver
Chromosome numbers in Erica - an updated
checklist

B. Sellers International heather gardens 2:
Cherrybank, Scotland

THE HEATHER SOCIETY'S PROCEEDINGS 2004

Second International Heather Conference, Coylumbridge,

Scotland

BOOK REVIEWS & RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Supplement to the International register of heather names — V (2005)

Website: www.heathersociety.org

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