Family: heaths (Ericaceae)
Flowering time: February–July
Size: 10–30 cm
Habitat: forests, scrub and rocky meadows
Spring heath (Erica carnea) is a low shrub with branched flowering shoots. These are shoots that lie at the base and then rise upright. Woody shoots are foliated with evergreen needle-like leaves. Leaves are arranged in whorls, four per whorl. At the top sharp, glabrous leaves are 6 to 10 mm long. Four-petaled flowers of cyclamen color, from which the stamens and the pistil protrude, form dense one-sided inflorescences at the tops of the shoots.
Spring heath typically thrives on calcareous substrate. Except in Pomurje and in the southeastern part of Slovenia, it is found throughout the country.
