Erica glauca var. elegans flowers

The stalked, nodding flowers of Erica glauca var. elegans have an unusual colour scheme: pink bracts and pale sepals surround a here an old brown corolla with lobes closed. The corolla may also be pink or white, the lobes overlapping around a small mouth seemingly selective about pollinators. A dense cluster of three flowers is shown in the photo. Stem-tip and short-shoot inflorescences have up to seven flowers.

The broad and papery bracteoles and sepals outshine the corolla here, depending on taste probably most of the time. The bracteoles have grooved keels, one keel in the photo green-tipped. The ovate sepals become about 6 mm long, tapering to acute tips that cover most of the corolla but do not close in. The almost spherical or urn-shaped corolla has a long neck and thick texture. 

The eight stamens are hidden in the corolla, their anthers with large basal crests that are sometimes joined to the filaments. The style is also covered, its stigma tip like a pinhead.

Flowering happens from before midwinter to early summer (Manning and Helme, 2024; Baker and Oliver, 1967; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; iSpot).