An erect shrub up to 8 or 9 ft high, the branches covered with scarcely perceptible down. Leaves arranged in whorls usually of fours, sometimes fives or sixes; linear, 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 in. long, dark glossy green. Flowers in terminal umbels carrying four to eight blossoms, and in beauty from June to September. Corolla cylindrical, narrowing towards the mouth, where are four recurved teeth; pale rose, 1⁄4 in. long; calyx with four lanceolate lobes, glabrous. Bot. Mag., t. 8063.
Native of S. Spain, Italy, Corsica and Sardinia; introduced, according to Aiton, in 1765. Although one of the tallest of the heaths, it is perfectly hardy at Kew. It passed through the winter of 1962-3 without serious injury. It strikes freely from cuttings, and flowers well when 12 in. high. Its pleasing habit, erect, clustered twigs, and deep green, healthy-looking foliage; its bright rosy blossoms; and the fact that it flowers in late summer, make it a most desirable shrub. Yet it is almost neglected in gardens. It seems to be more tolerant of chalk than any other heath.