Erica urna-viridis at Silvermine

The flowers of Erica urna-viridis grow in cluster of three or four, nodding on long pedicels from the tips of small side-branchlets. Halfway up the pedicels tiny warty bracteoles are present. The hairless sepals are small, green and narrow, almost obscured in the photo behind the broad flat bases of the corollas.

The pale greenish-white corollas are urn-shaped. They have a dull surface shine and a hint of translucence. The urn narrows almost in a linear fashion like a section of a cone to the mouth, where the broad and short corolla lobes curve outwards.

Only the whitish style protrudes visibly from the flower mouth, showing a dark stigma at its tip. Hidden inside the urn, eight large dark anthers with interestingly pointed horns cause the dark colouring of the forward section of the corolla tube (Manning and Helme, 2024; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; iSpot).