Heather
About
Ericaceae, the heath family or the heather family is a plant family, comprising mostly calcifuge (lime-hating) plants that thrive in acidic soils. Many well-known plants of the Ericaceae live in temperate climates, such as cranberry, blueberry, various heaths and heathers (Erica, Cassiope, Daboecia, Calluna vulgaris etc), huckleberry, azalea and rhododendron. However, the family also contains many tropical species.[1]
The Ericaceae consists of herbs, dwarf shrubs, shrubs and trees with leaves that are usually alternate or whorled, simple and without stipules, and hermaphrodite flowers. The flowers show considerable variability. The petals are often fused (sympetalous) with shapes ranging from narrowly tubular to funnelform or widely bowl-shaped. The corollas are usually radially symmetrical (actinomorphic) but many flowers of the genus Rhododendron are somewhat bilaterally symmetrical (zygomorphic).
