Erica cubica var. cubica

Erica cubica var. cubica, commonly known as box heath, is a shrublet in the Melastemon section of the Erica genus according to the Baker and Oliver classification. It grows either straight, erect, rod-like branches or a spreading form, reaching heights around 45 cm.

The branches and leaves are hairless. The narrow, furrowed leaves grow in fours or scattered, some longer and incurving, others shorter and overlapping.

The distribution of the species is in the Western Cape from Swellendam to the Eastern Cape and the central region of KwaZulu-Natal. The photo was taken in fynbos on the southern slopes of the Langkloof near Louterwater.

The habitat is moist fynbos, scrub and grassland on marshy flats and seeps on slopes. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning and Helme, 2024; Pooley, 1998; Moriarty, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).