How do you recognise Tree heath (Erica arborea)?

Leaf

Liliane Roubaudi, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Tree heath

Erica arborea L.

Also known as: Giant heather

Family: Ericaceae

1 to 3 m tall, sometimes more in the Mediterranean region

Garrigue, heaths, dry gardens, acid soils

Flowering: March – May

Full sun

Part shade

Hardy to -12°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

The extremely hard root burl of this heath is the wood traditionally used to make pipes. These two heaths can form an upright shrub of similar outline, sometimes more than a metre tall. But tree heath bears numerous small, strongly scented white bells that cover the twigs abundantly, whereas besom heath has tiny, barely visible greenish flowers borne in long narrow racemes — a good clue when both are in flower, less useful outside the flowering season when their outlines look more alike.

🍃 Leaves

Evergreen, very fine needles in whorls, dark green

🌸 Flowers

Tiny scented white bells in great numbers

🍎 Fruits

Small dry capsules

🪵 Bark

Reddish-brown bark peeling in strips, very hard root burl

🗺️ Distribution

Mediterranean basin, East Africa at altitude; found in the maquis and garrigue of southern France.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Early, abundant flowering, rich in nectar, important for bees in late winter.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted in borders or informal hedges in acid soil; the root burl is traditionally used to make pipes (briar root).

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No known toxicity.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Tree heath

Erica arborea

Besom heath

Erica scoparia

These two heaths can form an upright shrub of similar outline, sometimes more than a metre tall. But tree heath bears numerous small, strongly scented white bells that cover the twigs abundantly, whereas besom heath has tiny, barely visible greenish flowers borne in long narrow racemes — a good clue when both are in flower, less useful outside the flowering season when their outlines look more alike.

🌿 Other Ericaceae to discover

Rhododendron ponticum

Japanese andromeda

Pieris japonica

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.