{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Speciesbox |image = Erica vagans (aka).jpg |image_caption = |genus = Erica (plant) |species = vagans |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref>Rivers, M.C. 2017. Erica vagans. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T83753964A86136046. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T83753964A86136046.en. Accessed on 10 October 2025.</ref> |authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] }}
'''''Erica vagans''''', the '''Cornish heath''' or '''wandering heath''', is a [[species]] of [[flowering plant]] in the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Ericaceae]], [[native plant|native]] to Ireland, Cornwall, western France and Spain.<ref name=RHSAZ>{{cite book|title=RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants|year=2008|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=United Kingdom|isbn=1405332964|pages=1136}}</ref> It is a vigorous, spreading, [[evergreen]] heather reaching {{convert|75|cm|0|abbr=on}} tall and wide, with pink flowers borne in [[raceme]]s {{convert|14|cm|0|abbr=on}} long in summer and autumn. The Latin [[Binomial nomenclature|specific epithet]] ''vagans'' literally means "wandering"; in this context it means "widely distributed".<ref name=RHSLG>{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Lorraine|title=RHS Latin for gardeners|year=2012|publisher=Mitchell Beazley|location=United Kingdom|isbn=9781845337315|pages=224}}</ref>
==Description== [[File:Erica vagans - close-up (aka).jpg|upright=0.8|left|thumb|Close-up of Erica vagans]] Cornish heath is an evergreen subshrub, growing to a height of {{convert|1|to|3|ft|cm|-1|abbr=on}}. The small linear leaves with pale undersides and down-rolled margins grow in whorls of four or five on the wiry stems. The inflorescence is a fat, leafy spike with a few long-stalked, globular flowers; these are pink or lilac and have brown stamens that protrude from the open mouths. The flowering period is from July to September.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McClintock |first1=David |last2=Fitter |first2=R.S.R. |year=1961 |title=The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers |publisher=Collins |publication-place=London |page=122 }}</ref>
==Cornish population==
In Great Britain, it is only found on [[the Lizard|the Lizard peninsula]] in southern Cornwall, where the [[geology of Lizard, Cornwall|unusual geology]] gives rise to the [[soil pH|acid soils]] that it favours. It was voted the [[County flowers of the United Kingdom|County flower]] of [[Cornwall]] in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity [[Plantlife]].<ref>Plantlife website [http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/county_flowers/ ''County Flowers page''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430170312/http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/county_flowers/ |date=2015-04-30 }}</ref> It is often considered the [[Cornish people|Cornish]] [[floral emblem]].<ref>James Minahan, ''The complete guide to national symbols and emblems'', Volume 1, 2009</ref>
According to one story, this is because when [[Joseph of Arimathea]] first arrived in Cornwall looking for tin he had nowhere to stay, so he spent his first night on a bed of Cornish heather. In thankfulness, he blessed the plant and it has been a blessed plant ever since.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicholls, Steve|title=Flowers of the Field: Meadow, Moor and Woodland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zKEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT568 |year=2019 |publisher=Head of Zeus|isbn=978-1-78954-068-0 |page=568}}</ref>
[[File:Cornish heath at Bray's Cott near Goonhilly Downs.jpg|thumb|Mix of Cornish heath near [[Goonhilly Downs]], croft Pascoe forest seen on horizon.<ref name="CPF">{{cite web |title=Croft Pascoe Forest, Cornwall - area information, map, walks and more |url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/croft-pascoe-forest-cornwall |website=Ordnance Survey Get Outside |language=en-gb}}</ref>]]
==Cultivation== [[File:Erica vagans - cornish heath.jpg|thumb|''Erica vagans'' - Cornish heath]] Like almost all plants in the heath family (Ericaceae), ''E. vagans'' requires an acidic or, at the very least, neutral soil to thrive. In areas with alkaline (basic) soil, this can be achieved by planting ''E. vagans'' in containers with ericaceous compost. Numerous [[cultivar]]s have been developed with a range of flower colours in white, pink, mauve and purple.
===AGM cultivars=== The following cultivars have gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]]:-<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 36 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 6 February 2018}}</ref> *''E. vagans'' ‘Mrs D.F. Maxwell’<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/58721/i-Erica-vagans-i-Mrs-D-f-Maxwell/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - ''Erica vagans'' ‘Mrs D.F. Maxwell’ | access-date = 17 February 2018}}</ref> *''E. vagans'' 'St Keverne'<ref>{{cite book |author1=Brian Proudley |author2=Valerie Proudley |title=Heathers in Colour |date=1989 |publisher=Blandford Press |isbn=0713714204 |page=32 |edition=2nd |quote=''E. vagans'' 'St Keverne' is a favourite for late summer. ... As well as an Award of Merit bestowed upon it by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1914, it received in 1927 the coveted Award of Garden Merit}}</ref> *''E. vagans'' [[form (botany)|f.]] ''alba'' 'Cornish Cream'<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Erica vagans'' f. ''alba'' 'Cornish Cream' |url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/89672/Erica-vagans-f-alba-Cornish-Cream/Details|publisher=[[Royal Horticultural Society|RHS]]|access-date=24 March 2020}}</ref> (white-flowered variety) *''E. vagans'' f. ''alba'' 'Kevernensis Alba'<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Erica vagans'' f. ''alba'' 'Kevernensis Alba'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/32447/Erica-vagans-f-alba-Kevernensis-Alba/Details|access-date=24 March 2020}}</ref> (white-flowered variety) *''E. vagans'' f. ''alba'' 'Lyonnesse'<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/93679/Erica-vagans-f-alba-Lyonesse/Details | title = *''E. vagans'' f. ''alba'' 'Lyonnesse' | publisher = RHS | access-date = 19 March 2020}}</ref> *''E. vagans'' f. ''aureifolia'' 'Valerie Proudley'<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Erica vagans'' f. aureifolia 'Valerie Proudley' | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/293397/Erica-vagans-f-aureifolia-Valerie-Proudley/Details | access-date=23 February 2020}}</ref> (gold-leaved variety)
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Commons|position=left}} {{Culture of Cornwall}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1134318}}
[[Category:Environment of Cornwall]] [[Category:Erica (plant)|vagans]] [[Category:Flora of England]] [[Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]