Erica coccinea

Erica coccinea, also known as tassel heath, is a rigid, erect shrub of up to 1,2 m. The variable, short and hard leaves grow in tufts of three, recurving towards the stems.

This is one of the Erica species producing flowers in any of several colours. This yellow one grows in the Kogelberg. Apart from yellow flowers, some of the shrubs present orange, pink, white, red, green or brown ones. The corollas may be sticky, not always. Blooming carries on all year round.

The specific name, coccinea, is derived from the Latin name, coccum, of the insect known as cochineal, and the word part -ineus that indicates resemblance. Cochineal is a scale insect, Dactylopius coccus from which natural carmine dye is obtained. The Erica name refers to the red flowering form of the plant.  

The eight brown anthers protruding noticeably are longer than 15 mm. The corolla tube is long and curved. The sepals are coloured similarly to the corolla and appear double, the large bracts, the outer ones on top. The pendulous flowers grow from short side-branches.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape; subsp. coccinea is widespread, while subsp. uniflora is restricted to the south coast.

The habitat is fynbos on rocky sandstone and limestone slopes and flats. Neither subspecies is considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Marais, (Ed.), 2017; Manning, 2007; Andrew, 2017; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).