Erica abietina subsp. constantiana

Erica abietina subsp. constantiana or Constantia heath is a sturdy, erect shrub that grows to 40 cm, branching from a single woody stem. The leaves are threadlike, ascending or spreading from the stems, curving upwards near the tips.

The plant produces short, tubular, pink or sometimes red flowers clustered in leaf axils near stem tips. Flower tubes vary between 6 mm and 9 mm in length, widening towards their mouths in cone-like fashion, pointing sideways. The anthers visible among the pointed corolla lobes are dark in colour. Flowering happens mainly from winter to spring, although the specimen in picture was flowering in March.

The plant occurs in the Constantia area and elsewhere south of Table Mountain in the central mountainous parts of the Peninsula among fynbos (iSpot; www.plantzafrica.com).