This waxen Pink Heath is to be found all over the country. It grows best
in damp places, and is in flower in late summer and autumn before the
purple heather is fully out.
The flowers grow in clusters of from five to twelve at the top of the
woody stem. Each cluster is made up of pale pink waxy bells, and the
mouth of each small bell is edged with four pointed teeth. If you split
open one of these pink bells, you will find inside a round green
seed-vessel like a tiny pea.
There is a long green spike growing from the top of this seed-vessel,
and you can see its point coming out of the mouth of the pink bell.
There is also a ring of yellow stamens hidden inside the bell, and these
grow close round the green seed-vessel.
The leaves of this Pink Heath are very small and pointed, and they have
hairs along the edge. They grow in fours, and are placed crossways at
short distances up the main stem. The edges are usually rolled back on
to the woolly underside of the leaf.
The stem of the Cross-leaved Pink Heath is slender and wiry, and this
pretty plant is never found growing in large bushes like the common
heather. Sometimes the flowers are pure white.
Plate XLIII: 1. BLUE MEADOW CRANE'S-BILL 2. MILKWORT
3. CORN FLOWER OR BLUE BOTTLE 4. TUFTED VETCH