Erica tenella flowers

The Erica tenella leaves grow in whorls of three. They are dark green and needle-like, ascending on the stems.

The short-stalked flowers grow solitary or in groups up to four at stem-tips and small side-branchlets. There are scale-like bracteoles behind the calyces. The reddish, four-sepalled calyces hold on to the back ends of the corollas like slender bird claws. The sepals are narrow and leaf-like, wider at the base.

The ovoid to urn-shaped corollas are bright pink. Each ends in four spreading lobes, their rounded tips slightly recurved. The eight tailed anthers in each flower are dark inside the corolla, not exserted. The style ending in a pinhead stigma is also included (Manning and Helme, 2024; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist).