''Daboecia'' , or St. Dabeoc's heath, is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

, containing two

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

shrubs, closely related to the genus ''

Erica Erica or ERICA may refer to: * Erica (given name) * ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus * Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America * ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game * ''Erica'' (spider), a jumping spider genus * Eri ...

''. They are

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

to cliffs and

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

land in southern

Atlantic Europe Atlantic Europe is a geographical term for the western portion of Europe which borders the Atlantic Ocean. The term may refer to the idea of Atlantic Europe as a cultural unit and/or as a biogeographical region. It comprises the Atlantic Isles ( ...

and the

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Description

They produce urn-shaped flowers in shades of white, pink and red. ''Daboecia'' differ from European ''Erica''

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

in having a substantially larger

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

. The leaves are always alternate in ''Daboecia'', never whorled. The generic name comes from the Irish Saint Dabheog.

Distribution

''Daboecia'' has an oceanic distribution in western Europe, including western Ireland, western France, northwestern Spain, northwestern mainland Portugal and the

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of the Azores. Like ''Erica'' and ''Calluna'' species, ''Daboecia'' are

calcifuge A calcifuge is a plant that does not tolerate alkaline (basic) soil. The word is derived from the Latin 'to flee from chalk'. These plants are also described as ericaceous, as the prototypical calcifuge is the genus '' Erica'' (heaths). It is no ...

s, but will tolerate neutral soils and avoid peat.

Species

* '' Daboecia azorica'' Tutin & E. F. Warb. * ''Daboecia cantabrica'' (Huds.) K. Koch (Irish heath) Some botanists regard ''D. azorica'' as a subspecies of ''D. cantabrica'', which would render the genus monospecific.

Cultivation

The two species have been extensively cultivated and hybridised to produce a number of popular garden plants.

Cultivars A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

include selections from the hybrid between the two species, which is named ''Daboecia'' × ''scotica''. The following cultivars have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (No ...

’s

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(confirmed 2017): *''D. cantabrica'' ‘Waley’s Red’ *''D. cantabrica'' subsp. ''scotica'' ‘Silverwells’ *''D. cantabrica'' subsp. ''scotica'' ‘William Hicks’

References

* Oliver, E. G. H. (2000). Systematics of Ericeae. ''Contributions from the Bolus Herbarium'' 19. * Nelson, E. C. (1984). Dabeoc – a saint and his heather. ''Yearbook of the Heather Society'' 1984: 41–46. * Nelson, E. C. (2000). A history, mainly nomenclatural, of St Dabeoc's heath. ''Watsonia'' 23: 47–58.

External links

*
Heather Society
Ericaceae genera Ericoideae {{Ericaceae-stub