Erica coccinea pale buds

When Erica coccinea still buds, the buds here about white, their tips are closed and pointed. White or nearly so, is but one of the calyx and bracteole colour options included in the species range. It appears as if these buds occur in clusters (up to three), rather than growing solitary, meaning the plant is subsp. coccinea, not subsp. uniflora.

Lower down among the abundant flowering in the making, some open corolla tubes have exserted their stamens. In nodding ericas the stamens are not likely to be seen clearly in photos taken from above.

The short, needle-like leaves, green and spreading, grow densely in whorls of three, or appear tufted. The leaves may have ciliate margins.

Baker and Oliver describe this Erica as “probably the most varied species in the genus”. Imagine being the most varied one of about 850 relatives! Cause for an identity crisis. Separating this plant from E. plukenetii is one thing, but placing all its shapes and colours in the same species is another! This variable Erica may one day, when nobody can read what is written here anymore, be a string of independent species in the eyes, or equivalent body parts of the botanists of the deep future (Manning and Helme, 2024; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org).