Erica sessiliflora

Erica sessiliflora, the white bottlebrush heath or groenheide in Afrikaans, is one of the popular tube-flowered ericas of the Cape. It is an easily recognized species in the huge genus with some daunting identification and learning challenges.

The erect and woody, branched shrub of more than 1 m in height has small needle-like leaves that point upwards and sometimes curve in.

The greenish yellow to white, long and narrow tubular flowers arranged in a dense spike may reach 3 cm in length. They are hairless and narrow, but may become wider close to the mouth than at the base. Flowering may happen all year round, more vigorously from autumn to spring.

The sections with knobby protuberances just below the flowers are sepals protecting fruits and seeds from earlier blooming. The plant is unlike many Erica species in its retention of the fruits on the plant for several years.

E. sessiliflora grows in the southern and coastal parts of the Western Cape and into the southwest of the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is damp fynbos on flats and up to medium mountain slopes. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century.

This Erica is popular as a garden subject (Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).