Erica glauca var. elegans flowers

The flowers of Erica glauca var. elegans have an unusual colour scheme: pink bracts and pale sepals surround a naturally brown corolla. A dense, somewhat combined cluster of three flowers is shown in the photo.

The conspicuous bracts and sepals outshine the corolla. They have grooved keels; one bract keel in the photo is green. The ovate sepals become about 6 mm long, tapering to acute tips that cover most of the corolla. The almost spherical or urn-shaped corolla has a long neck and thick texture. The pointed corolla lobes that close in the photo may also spread.

Flowering happens from midwinter to early summer (Baker and Oliver, 1967; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iSpot).