Erica patersonii (Mealie heath)

[= Erica patersonia]

Mielieheide [Afrikaans]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Order: Ericales > Family: Ericaceae > Genus: Erica > Section: Evanthe

Erica patersonii growing on the flats near Palmiet River Mouth in the Kleinmond Nature Reserve, surrounded by a profusion of pink Erica multumbellifera [© H.G. Robertson, Iziko ©]

Occurs in fynbos on marshy coastal flats, from Cape Peninsula to Hermanus. Grows as an erect, sparsely branched shrub to a height of about 1 m. The radiating tubular yellow flowers are distinctive.