Erica curviflora var. curviflora leaves

Erica curviflora var. curviflora seems to be the more common and widespread variety of E. curviflora. Other varieties such as var. diffusa of the Akkedisberg east of Stanford may be more localised, while variety names such as var. burchellii, var. sulcata and var. versatilis also exist.

The leaves in picture are dark green and narrowly linear. They ascend and spread up the stems, allowing visibility of the pale stems around which they grow in spaced whorls of four. The leaves are usually sparsely hairy. As the stems become older and thicker, they darken to reddish brown and grey, losing their leaves. Leaves may be pressed against the stems, although not here.

The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; www.plantzafrica.com; www.redlist.sanbi.org).