Botanical name

Erica ioniana

Family

Ericaceae

Common Name

Small Nodding Heath

Status

Rare

Erica ioniana
Erica ioniana
Erica ioniana
Erica ioniana

Description

Low, compact rounded shrub, no more than 15cm high, branches slightly spreading. Leaves are 4-nate and sparsely hairy; 12-20 bell-shaped flowers are arranged in dense, pendent heads at the ends of short drooping branchlets; flowers are pale-pink to cream and tend to hang face down, giving ants the best view! Anthers not exerted and are a pale-yellowish brown.

Pendent habit of this species, with flowers close to the ground, suggests some form of pollination by creeping insects.

Erica ioniana is a highly localised endemic from the Kleinrivier Mountains.

After: Dr Ion James Muirhead Williams (1912-2001) well known Hermanus botanist and collector, who discovered the species in the Vogelgat Nature Reserve.

Habitat

Sandy south-facing mountain slopes

Flower Date

February to March