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Side by side
What tells them apart
Bell size and leaf. St Dabeoc's heath has flowers three to four times larger and a flat leaf with a white underside; bell heather has small flowers and needle leaves.
Harmless confusion
How to tell it
The bells are far larger than any heath's, a centimetre or more, purple-pink and hanging in loose clusters. Small, flat leaves rather than needles, dark green above and white-felted beneath, which is the decisive sign.
How to tell it
Very short needle leaves in whorls of three, dark green and hairless, with margins so rolled the leaf looks like a thread. Glossy carmine-purple bells, fatter and darker than other heaths', clustered at the tips.