Erica taxifolia flowers

An Erica taxifolia flower has an urn-shaped corolla with a narrow mouth topped by the triangular lobes of the petal tips. These lobes spread more widely on young flowers; those in picture having already turned brown as have the petals overall.

Around the petals the broad, pointed sepals comprising the (shorter) calyx, loosely hold the corolla without curving in against it. The sepals are pink, the same as the petals, sometimes only coloured so towards their tips while paler pink or whitish lower down. The sepals (also in the photo) hold their colour longer than the petals.

This species has marked flower size differences, those growing at higher altitudes being bigger; corolla length varying from 6 mm to 9 mm.

Both the eight stamens and the style ending in a pinhead stigma are included in the corolla, not protruding. The anthers of this species have tiny awn-like appendages or tails at the base.

Flowering happens from late spring through autumn (Manning and Helme, 2024; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com).