Heaths: Ericaceae
• 103 genera/3350 spp.,
cosmopolitan, but not in deserts
and in the tropics usually
montane.
• shrubs and trees, sometimes
lianes or subherbs
• mycorrhizal, and often on acid
soils; fungal partners fix Nitrogen.
Heaths: Ericaceae
In North America and Europe Ericaceae
are commonly found in bogs such as
kettle bogs (below right; Byron Bog,
London ON) and blanket bogs (above
right; Liffy Bog, S of Dublin, Eire), as
well as in the wetland complexes of
northern Ontario.
Heaths: Ericaceae
• Leaves simple, often
evergreen and with
adaptations for
minimizing water loss
("Ericoid"), usually
spirally arranged.
• Stipules absent.
Calluna
Erica
Heaths: Ericaceae
• K(5); C5 or C(5).
• A10, anthers dehiscing by pores or
(sometimes) slits, pollen grains in
tetrads except where petals also
free.
• G(5), superior to inferior,
developing into a berry, capsule
(loculicidal or septicidal), or drupe.
Chimaphila maculata
Vaccinium oxycoccos
Gaultheria procumbens
Vaccinium sp.
Heaths: Ericaceae
• predominantly north temperate in
distribution, but with greatest
diversity in southern Africa, the
Andes, the Himalayas and China
(Rhododendron), and New Guinea
• Latest classification based on
cpDNA and morphology (Kron et
al. 2002 in Botanical Review)
Ericaceae
• Enkianthoideae
• Arbutoideae
• Monotropoideae
• Ericoideae
• Cassiopoideae
• Vaccinioideae
• Styphelioideae
Arbutoideae
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Monotropoideae
Monotropa uniflora
Chimaphila maculata
Empetrum nigrum
Ericoideae
Rhododendron lapponicum
Epigaea repens
Vaccinioideae
Andromeda polifolia
Vaccinium macrocarpon