Besom heath
Erica scoparia
Family · Ericaceae · Harmless
The tall green heath with inconspicuous flowers, used to make brooms and hedges across the centre of the country. Unlike other heaths, you barely notice it when it flowers.
Where it grows
Scrubland · Pine woods · Oak woods · Uplands
Also known asgreen heather
In flower
How to tell it
An upright shrub one to three metres tall with bright green fine foliage. The flowers are tiny, greenish or reddish, and go unnoticed. Needle leaves in whorls of three or four.
What it is confused with
Tree heath
Erica arborea
The flower decides: tree heath covers itself in white bells and smells of honey; this one barely shows flowers. Both harmless.
Open sheet →What it is for
Brooms, hedges and shed roofing. It is also among the heaths that resprout best after fire, which makes it a piece of burnt-slope recovery.